Dread: How Fear and Fantasy Have Fueled Epidemics from the Black Death to Avian Flu

By Phillip Alcabes, Philip Alcabes, Phillip Alcabes

Book Overview

Deaths from epidemic disease are rare in the developed world, yet in our technically and medically advanced society, an ever-present risk of disease has created an industry out of fear.
As Philip Alcabes persuasively argues in Dread, our anxieties about epidemics often stray from the facts on the ground. In a fascinating exploration of the social and cultural history of epidemics, Alcabes delivers a different narrative of disease-one that requires that we reexamine our choice of enemies, and carefully consider the potential motivation of epidemic alarm-bells to further medical, moral, or political campaigns.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1586488090
• ISBN13: 9781586488093
• Release Date: April 2010
• Publisher: PublicAffairs
• Length: 336 Pages
• Weight: 0.92 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 5.8" x 8.9"

Customer Reviews

For those who wants to know the truth

An easy-to-read, very well written book. At the same time, it has that deepness of thought that makes you feel like you did see the surface of the truth about the 'epidemics', but still can't grasp it all at once. The greatest thing a good book can do is to make you think. That's exactly what this book does: makes you think, makes you want to learn more, makes you search for the answers... A++

Great information presented in an easy to understand format

I enjoyed Dread - it presents a clear and convincing argument that many of our fears are disproportionate to the risks they pose. Touching on many topics from the black plague, to AIDS, to obesity, Dread offers in-depth information in a way that is accessible and understandable to me. The book explains why our lifestyle, and everything from the news, to health officials and the CDC often drive irrational fears about disease and our environment.

Simply Brilliant

This book is a must read. Philip Alcabes is an extremely gifted writer. In a world filled with potential deadly viruses (Swine Flu just the most recent example....), this book offers brilliant insight into a very relevant topic.

Great Insights

I highly recommend this book for both the professional and the layman.It is well researched with literary, historical and medical references and very well written. Philip Alcabes presents his points of view in a clear and convincing manner.

Alcabes on Autism

This is a great book filled with great insights on a great subject. We don't realize how much extra baggage we bring to the subject of disease in our public discourse---but Alcabes does and offers perceptive perspectives on the subject. . As a mother of children with autism, I was particularly interested in Alcabes' take on autism, his view that we fear autistic people because they aren't able to recognize other people's points of view and thus reaffirm those individuals. Also Alcabes argues that we fear the autistic because they don't fit into our world of multi-tasking and instant communication. Great insight!