recommended non-fiction titles
the non-fiction titles listed below focus specifically on influenza; others on emerging diseases in general, and some on the groundbreaking work of scientists across the centuries.
browse through our list of non-fiction titles, as recommended by professor jo verran, founder of the bad bugs book club, which focus on the topic of emerging infectious diseases below.
1. pale rider: the spanish flu and how it changed the world by laura spinney 2017.
the author has been interviewed rather frequently in recent weeks, reflecting the accessibility and scope of this book about influenza in 1918.2. living with enza by mark honigsbaum 2009.
testimonies and narrative exploring people’s experiences during the 1918 influenza pandemic, uncovering its impact, which had been somewhat obscured by the great war. another prominent and reliable journalist oincurrent times.
3. the pandemic century by mark honigsbaum 2019.
accessible descriptions of key outbreaks and epidemics that arose in the twentieth century, including sars, and the parallel epidemiological investigations.
4. the coming plague by laurie garrett. 1994.
one of the first significant books to address newly emerging infectious diseases (in 1994, particular hiv-aids and ebola), focusing on ‘a world out of balance’, and anticipating more outbreaks.
5. spillover: animal infections and the next human pandemic by david quammen 2013.
zoonoses are diseases transmitted between animals and humans (as in the movie ‘contagion’). quammen considers how such diseases emerge, and what our role is in the emergence.
6. microbe hunters by paul de kruif. 1926.
reader’s digest-style stories about the very first pioneering microbiologists, and their heroic efforts to identify the causes and treatment of infectious disease.
7. the hot zone by richard preston. 1994.
bearing little relation to the movie ‘outbreak’, the book describes the emergence of strains of ebola of varying virulence and considers the potential impact of a more contagious (airborne) form.
8. the vaccine race by meredith wadman. 2017.
a wonderful narrative of the use of cell culture to grow viruses and develop vaccines. like microbe hunters, the scientists are brought to life, along with their discoveries.
9. how to survive a plague by david french. 2016.
encompassing four decades from the emergence of hiv-aids to recent times, the book (also a film documentary) is a magnificent narrative of the efforts of activists and scientists to fight both prejudice and the virus.
10. six modern plagues and how we are causing them by mark jerome walters. 2003.
six chapters address how human ecology and behaviour can potentiate emergence of new diseases: sars is mentioned in the epilogue.
for any more information about the bad bugs book club and how you can get involved, contact professor jo verran at [email protected] or follow her on twitter.
share your book club journey with us on twitter using the hashtag #microbiobookclub #microbiosoc75th.
image credits:
shutterstock/royalty-free stock photo id: 395398660professor jo verran
