2012 MacReads Selection is

The Ghost Map; The Story of London's Most Terrifying Epidemic--and How it Changed Science, Cities, and the Modern World  by Steven Johnson

Based on the deadly cholera outbreak in London in 1854, this book brings together "19th century culture, information design, urban life and infrastructre--and wraps them in a narrative that is part detective story, part biology lesson and part Dickens novel." [Excerpt from online review.]

Author Steven Johnson provides a 10 minute tour of the Ghost Map in this TedTalk recorded in November 2006.