Winner of the 2019 Leo Gershoy Award

“Hugh Cagle’s original, erudite, and engrossing Assembling the Tropics explores how the varied environments of the Portuguese empire, from Goa to Brazil, challenged existing European paradigms of nature and disease, leading to the gradual emergence of the notion of “tropical medicine.” Ambitious in scope, compellingly written, and thoughtfully attentive to the interplay between indigenous and European medical knowledge, this monograph significantly enriches our understanding of early modern medicine, environmental thought, and the Portuguese imperial encounter.”

–American Historical Association