I recommend this book for anyone who is interested in a brief history of virus (and prion) based diseases since the outbreak of smallpox.

Michael Oldstone does not write about outbreaks like The Black Plague so, for those interested in that topic will have to look elsewhere.

I do like his introductory chapters in which he describes the mechanism of infection. For those who would like to get a basic understanding of this mechanism, I recommend these chapters.

The author has neatly divided the book into chapters in which he writes about each disease, the outbreak, and the search for medication.

Michael Oldstone highlights the conflicts between business, politics and science. The one topic he mentions a few time is the possibility of viruses being used for bio-warfare. The prospect of bioterrorism is worrying and is something we should be prepared for. ( )

Interesting book...a tad outdated on the modern viruses because so much has been learned since the book was published in 1988. ( )

medicine, plague, epidemic