Viruses, Plagues, and History

Past, Present, and Future

By: Michael B. A. Oldstone

Narrated by: L.J. Ganser

The story of viruses and humanity is a story of fear and ignorance, of grief and heartbreak, and of great bravery and sacrifice. Michael Oldstone tells all these stories as he illuminates the history of the devastating diseases that have tormented humanity, focusing mostly on the most famous viruses.

Oldstone begins with smallpox, polio, and measles. Nearly 300 million people were killed by smallpox in this century alone and the author presents a vivid account of the long campaign to eradicate this lethal killer. Oldstone then describes the fascinating viruses that have captured headlines in more recent years: Ebola, Hantavirus, mad cow disease (a frightening illness made worse by government mishandling and secrecy), and, of course, AIDS. And he tells us of the many scientists watching and waiting even now for the next great plague, monitoring influenza strains to see whether the deadly variant from 1918 - a viral strain that killed over 20 million people in 1918-1919 - will make a comeback. For this revised edition, Oldstone includes discussions of new viruses like SARS, bird flu, virally caused cancers, chronic wasting disease, and West Nile.

Viruses, Plagues, and History paints a sweeping portrait of humanity's long-standing conflict with our unseen viral enemies. Oldstone's book is a vivid history of a fascinating field, and a highly reliable dispatch from an eminent researcher on the front line of this ongoing campaign.

©2010 Michael B. A. Oldstone (P)2018 Tantor

Great read even if you're not a scientist.

Great narration. I feared this book would be to complicated for a lay person. I skipped through a couple of chapters at the beginning that were heavy on virology. I was more interested in the impact of viruses on people and how viruses were conquered --or not. This book did that wonderfully. Also it was very informative on the people who studied diseases and who have worked to relieve human suffering. We do need science.

Informative

I read this book in weeks 8-10 of my COVID-19 Stay-at-Home order. I wish I'd have read it even sooner. The information in this book helped me to better understand and rationalize the history of virology and our response to viruses throughout history. A great book for this period of time.

Must Read on Virology and Public Health

This is a great book that brings a slightly different perspective on virology and infectious diseases. I can see how some readers, albeit erroneously, may believe that the author has American ethnocentrism but it is incorrect to say the very least. US authorities are cited as being as big a part of the problem of emerging diseases as any other country. The book spends an adequate amount of time discussing virology and immunology, but spends the most important, and different than other books on the topic, time discussing implications on religion, politics and financial interests as playing a major role is infectious disease. I found the most interesting part of the book is discussing American outbreaks of diseases such as yellow fever that may have fallen through the cracks in understanding such diseases. It may be a bit technical at times, but this is minimal and the author does a great job of explaining terms when necessary. A general understanding of microbiology and disease is helpful but not necessary. Medical professionals may find this book more interesting than the layperson is small areas but is helpful for all those concerned with the past, present and future of the health of the global community.

Good, if heavy

interesting and, well, not quite "enjoyable" due to the subject, but something like that. A little technical regarding biology, but not so much that it lost me in the details.

Great Narrator!

The narrator's voice kept me hooked even in parts that were more complicated. I really enjoyed it!