J.R. McNeill's 2010 environmental history of the Caribbean — arguing that yellow fever and malaria (carried by mosquitoes) more than any military force determined which European powers succeeded in the Caribbean and shaped the outcomes of the American Revolution and Haitian Revolution.
Demonstrates that ecological factors (mosquito-borne disease) determined the military outcomes that shaped Atlantic history — Yellow fever killed European troops far more effectively than enemy armies, giving disease-resistant populations (creoles, enslaved Africans) decisive military advantages in tropical environments.
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