Product Description
In this book, Oldstone focuses on several of the most famous viruses humanity has battled,. He begins with some we have effectively defeated, such as smallpox, polio, measles, and yellow fever, then describes the fascinating viruses that have captured headlines in more recent years: Ebola and other hemorrhagic fevers, Hantavirus, mad cow disease, and, of course, AIDS. He goes on to tell of the many scientists watching and waiting even now for the next great plague, monitoring influenza strains to see whether the deadly variant from 1918a viral strain that killed over 20 million people in1918-1919will make a comeback. Viruses have wiped out cities, brought down dynasties, and helped destroy civilizations. But, as Michael Oldstone reveals, scientific research has given us the power to tame many of these viruses as well.

Amazon.com Review
Had it not been for viruses, the U.S. and Canada might today be one country; the African slave trade may not have been as extensive; and the Spanish almost certainly wouldn't have conquered the Aztecs and other New World native peoples. In fact, viruses have affected world history more extensively than most of us can imagine. Viruses, Plagues, & History not only shows us what viruses are and how they work, but looks at what newer ones such as Ebola and HIV might mean to our future. Even more frightening, Oldstone discusses the influenza virus of 1918 to 1919--which may have killed as many as 50 million people worldwide and certainly helped England, France, and the U.S. defeat Germany in World War I--and wonders if it's due for a return visit. Granted, a book with a chapter titled "Mad Cow Disease and Englishmen: Spongiform Encephalopathies--Virus or Prion Disease?" isn't for everybody, but it's a fascinating for anyone interested in health and wellness and the medical future of our planet.

CUSTOMER REVIEWS (Average Customer Rating: 3.5 based on 8 reviews)

Good review of viruses by Sara White (Salt Lake City, UT USA)

4 Stars
August 21, 2008
this is more of a historical book than a scientific book. It tells how viruses have changed history and talks about how history might have been if a plague did not happen. It is for a reader with a nonscientific background, as it has two chapters on basic immunology and viral characteristics. Overall, it has been an informative and well written book, although at some times dry.

Billions and Billions of casualties by Thomas Wikman (Texas)

4 Stars
May 31, 2008
This interesting book gives an introduction to virology and explains how infectious disease, in particular viral epidemic diseases, has changed human history. It describes the often heroic efforts of scientists and virologists who pioneered their identification, pathogenesis, and prevention through vaccination. The next few paragraphs will give some perspective on the importance of these efforts and the effect infectious disease has had upon human history (mostly based on the content of this book). Small pox killed 300-500 million people in the twentieth century alone. That is about 7-12% of everyone who died in the 20th century and more than four times more deaths than caused by all the wars during the 20th century. Since 1979 not a single person has died from small pox. Small pox is an example of a success story. Other amazing success stories are the conquest over poliomyelitis, yellow fever, and measles. Hygiene and modern medicine have together with other technological and scientific progress enabled the human population on this planet to grow from half a billion to six and a half billion people in a few hundred years, at the same time as it has improved the human condition immensely. It used to be the world wide norm that more than half of the kids died before adulthood and the average life span was 30 years or less. Not even the worst countries in the world today are that miserable. It is clear that the fight against infectious disease has greatly altered the human condition and history. It is also the major reason why we worry so much about heart disease and cancer today. In the past migrations and conquests often resulted in plagues that changed the course of history. The great Islamic expansion across North Africa and into the Iberian Peninsula in the sixth to eight centuries spread smallpox across Africa and into Europe. The bubonic plague that killed 75 million people world wide and 25 million people in Europe was carried east from central Asia and west along the Silk Road, by Mongol armies and traders making use of the opportunities of free passage within the Mongol Empire offered by the Pax Mongolica. It was reportedly first introduced to Europe at the trading city of Caffa in the Crimea in 1347. 20-40 million people died from influenza during and soon after World War I, and the flu probably aided the allies in defeating the Germans. The inadvertent arrival of small pox played a crucial role in the Spanish conquest of Mexico and Peru, the Portuguese colonization of Brazil, the settlement of North America by English and French, as well as the settlements of Australia. As many as 50-100 million native Americans may have died from small pox and other diseases over a few hundred years, which essentially decimated the native population. With so much of the native Indian labor force lost, the impetus grew to bring slaves from West Africa. African slaves in turn brought Yellow fever to the Americas. It should be noted that Africans had better resistance against yellow fever, and the peoples of the old world had better resistance against measles and small pox than the Native Americans had. Infectious disease often assisted conquerors, changed the outcome of battles, and changed history time and time again. However, the fight against infectious disease continues. Malaria killed 250 million people during the 20th century, and still kills between one and three million people every year. Tuberculosis kills one to two million people every year, pneumonia kills millions of people every year, and Aids kills about two million people every year. This book begins with an introduction to virology and the principles of immunology, and then continues by describing a few success stories (smallpox, yellow fever, measles and poliomyelitis), and next the current challenges (Lassa fever, Ebola, Hantavirus, HIV, Spongiform Encephalopathies, and Influenza), and finally it provides some future predictions. In each chapter the book describes the disease and gives an overview of the effect the various epidemics has had on history and how the fight against the disease was carried on or is carried on. The topic of the book is very interesting and important; however, the writing is a little dry. Another book on this topic that I can recommend is Man and Microbes: Disease and Plagues in History and Modern Times.

Book Review by Jebb Sagun

3 Stars
May 06, 2008
Pros The book gives us introduction about the different kinds of viruses and plagues that we are encountering that helps the reader to communicate about it. It is very interesting about how the book talks on the cause and effects to the people and also on its relationship to different countries and cultures. I like the book on how it refreshes my memory. In addition, this book reminds about the virulence of the viruses. Good book for reading interest or references. Cons I did not like some of the chapters because you need to have knowledge on their topic in order to really understand what the author wants to say. For instance, one chapter has plenty of terms that needed to understand for a novice person. Figures should be more colorful especially if they are trying to show the viruses on a microscopic view. In addition, the author should also balance of each chapter that some of the chapter tell us only small amount of information.

Good Book! by William Scripter (Kodiak AK)

4 Stars
May 02, 2008
I love history and science and I thought this book was a good mix of the two. The first couple chapters are a little technical but informative and understandable. I loved reading how diseases altered the histories of empires, info that you might not necessarily read in just a straight up history book.I also really enjoyed the look at work that is presently underway to prevent future pandemics such as the avian flu and the work being put in to curb the continued spread of HIV and find an eventual cure. The stories contained in these pages makes you appreciate the period we live in and all the contributions and sacrifices made by the researchers that came before us.

Fascinating! by Sammy Madison (USA)

5 Stars
July 28, 2006
I ordered three books on similar subjects, "Viruses, Plagues, and History", "Man and Microbes", and "Plagues and Peoples" at the same time. Each book has something different to recommend it. My least favorite was "Plagues and Peoples". The writing was pompous and cumbersome, and while the thesis of the book, that man's relationship to society and our planet is pathogenic, is interesting, it can be conveyed in one sentence. There is not a lot of readable material about the actual history of disease in the book. I got a lot more by far out of both "Man and Microbes" and "Viruses, Plagues, and History". Both of these books are filled with interesting facts and stories of how disease has impacted human history. I will definitely keep and re-read both books. As an earlier reviewer noted, the first section of "Viruses, Plagues, and History", entitled "Introduction to the Principles of Virology" is pretty intimidating. If the science bothers the reader too much, it really doesn't hurt to skip this chapter. Maybe the rest of the book will interest the non-scientific reader enough so he will go back and read this section later. Part Two of the book is entitled "Success Stories". It contains fascinating and very graphic descriptions of some very bad diseases and interesting stories about the effects these diseases have had on the course of history. Part Three is "Present and Future Challenges", about some of the newly emerging diseases that are making headlines today. The author is a true professional in the biomedical field, and in his preface, he tells about reading "Microbe Hunters" in junior high and how it inspired him in his education and career to meet many of the foremost experts on viral diseases and become one himself. I think this is a very, very interesting book.

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