The Coming Plague - Newly Emerging Diseases in a World out of Balance
Laurie Garrett has written a compelling account of the challenges that Nature continentally throws at human civilization in the form of infectious diseases. Like earthquakes and hurricanes, the devastating diseases that periodically emerge — so vividly described by her— remind us how thin is the veneer that separates our high-tech society from personal and communal disaster. By embedding the story of AIDS in stories about so many recently emerged microbes, she reminds us that AIDS is not a unique occurrence but rather that any change in the habits of a society is likely to lead to unforeseen and potentially disastrous consequences. The Coming Plague is required reading for anyone who wants to understand the march of contemporary world history.