Medicine and the culture of command: the case of malaria control in the British Army during the two World Wars

Perhaps more than any other disease, malaria serves as a potent symbol of the struggle between humankind and the natural world. Scientific and technical advances-from Ross's identification of the malaria vector to the application of DDT during the Second World War-have promised much but have so far failed to provide any lasting solution to the devastation caused by the disease. Yet at the close of the Second World War it was confidently expected that malaria could be not only controlled but eradicated, since newly-developed drugs and insecticides had seemingly paved the way for Allied victory in Italy, South East Asia, and the Far East.