Biological War

The Sunday Times bestselling non-fiction thriller

By: Annie Jacobsen

Narrated by: Annie Jacobsen

There is an invisible weapon among us.
By the time you know you are a victim, it has turned you into a killer.

A compelling, fast-paced, ticking clock non-fiction thriller from the author of the bestselling Nuclear War: A Scenario.

A lab accident, a bio-attack, a global pandemic, and the collapse of human society. In this explosive new book, based on dozens of new interviews with experts with high-level political, governmental, medical, and military responsibility, Annie Jacobsen examines this very scenario.

There is no mushroom cloud, no shock wave or blast. Instead, the scenario that could end the world as we know it begins with something so small and malicious, that when used for evil, only evil can result.

This is what could happen; a roadmap to the hours, days, and weeks following the release of a biological agent, that serves as the most essential, forward-looking journalism in preparation for urgent societal upheaval.

'A persuasive and unnerving argument' The New Yorker

'Read this book. It is a better briefing on the problem than the one we recived in Downing Street six years ago.' James Phillips, Spectator

'It's gripping and very, very scary how this scenario plays out.' Transfer Orbit

© Annie Jacobsen 2026 (P) Penguin Audio 2026

Critic reviews

Very effective . . . you might argue that her books on nuclear and biological warfare establish a new genre we might call New Fear Unlocked . . . all too credible . . . the author's timing is impeccable.

Read this book. It is a better briefing on the problem than the one we received in Downing Street six years ago. (James Phillips)

Energetic, detailed and disturbing . . . an engrossing, plausible book

A persuasive and unnerving argument.

Graphic and sobering . . . Jacobsen is back with another scenario that promises to be even more ghastly and perversely thrilling than [Nuclear War: A Scenario]. (Killian Fox)

A scrupulously realistic book about the inconceivable…This is important work...Biological War is an indictment of the weapons programs that created our discomfiting reality, and of a leadership that has allowed it to continue.

This book moves like a meteor… Biological War is a heavily researched book about contagious and potentially civilization-ending pathogens…That so many were willing to talk to her, and have their names affixed to this book, indicates the esteem in which she is held.

Horrifying . . . a good read (Jacob Aron)

Biological War: A Scenario will scare your pants off, but in a deliciously readable fashion.

It's gripping and very, very scary how this scenario plays out.