The word 'plague' has a profound historical, even biblical, resonance. In 1976, the historian William McNeill wrote his seminal book Plagues and Peoples, which exploded how the emergence and spread of infectious diseases over millennia has reflected changes in human culture, demography and contact patterns. Since then, various other plague books- notably Laurie Garrett's The Coming Plague (Virago, 1995), Arno Karlen's Plague's Progress (Orion, 1995) and Plagues by Christopher Wills (Diane, 1996) - have appeared. Now we have Six Modern Plagues by Mark Walters. Refreshingly, this latest book explores the underlying shifts in human ecology and behaviour that have potentiated recent epidemics. We are spared the usual combative cliches about conquering the microbes, being under siege and counter-attacking. Walters draws out of each example the fundamental lesson that, as we continue to change our ways of living, our environmental encroachments, our long-distance contacts and our food production methods, so we create opportunities for the genetically fleet-footed microbial world. Their drive to survive is as strong as ours, and is based on much longer experience.
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