Invisible Enemies: Stories of Infectious Disease

by Jeanette Farrell

Book Overview

Updated to include the most recent breakthroughs First published in 1998, here are the surprisingly fascinating stories of seven diseases that changed the course of human history - updated to reflect... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0374336377
• ISBN13: 9780374336370
• Release Date: April 1998
• Publisher: Farrar Straus Giroux
• Length: 246 Pages
• Weight: 1.13 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 6.3" x 9.3"
• Age Range: 12 to 17 years
• Grade Range: Grades 7 to 12

Customer Reviews

Getting it Right

The author writes well and with grace. The topic of infectious disease is easily misinterpreted by terms such as "the deadly_________" that pervades the cheap popular press, but none of that here. She also writes with accuracy from having read the relevant literature. I do not think this a children's book but rather a chatty and intelligent exploration of the plagues of our times. I would place on the level of Hans Zinsser, Macfarlane Burnet but without the inevitable academic claptrap. Whether she will continue her frank and unembroidered style as she continues in academic medicine is anybodies guess, but if anyone can write a history of AIDS, she can!

Just a Start to What You'll Want to Know About Diseases

Some people say that a book has "more than you'll ever want to know" about such and such a thing. Realistically, though, a single volume cannot contain all information on a subject. This book, Invisible Enemies, is not more than you'll ever want to know... it's a start to a whole new search for knowledge. After I read this, I thought I should become an epidemiologist. Though it was classified under the children's section at my local library, I was intrigued by both the cover, the description, and the title. I checked it out and read it; it contains summaries, drawings, history, stories, and explanations of many highly infectious diseases that have plagued man throughout history--six or seven, I believe. Included are: tuberculosis, leprosy, cholera, bubonic plague, AIDS, smallpox, and malaria. Before I read this, the basis of my knowledge of smallpox was that it is mostly gone, with the exception of a few lab samples around the world. Now I know how the vaccination was developed, as well as its spread and symptoms. If diseases are something even slightly interesting to you, this is the book I would begin with.

A great book

Invisible Enemies is a book that will educate you about 7 diseases that helped shaped history, will make you respect the power of the tiny organisms we live with, and will not let you forget the most important part of any epidemic - the people. As a graduate student in the sciences, I was satisfied with the details about the diseases and fascinated by the details about the people.

science for non-scientists

Never did I think that I would be reading, much less enjoying, a book about infectious disease! It is a tribute to the way the book is written, taking perspectives from several disciplines, that a non-scientist such as myself would be fascinated by this book. The treatment of tuberculosis is particularly engaging. It is apparent that the author has a keen understanding of this disease. I highly recommend this book. If nothing else, you can entertain your friends with stories of how the Chinese fought smallpox!

Extremely entertaining and informative for adults too!

Don't be fooled by the 'young adult' listing for this book -- anyone with an interest in biology or history will gobble up these well-researched, clearly-told tales of infectious disease. Chapters focus on smallpox, malaria, tuberculosis, leprosy, cholera, plague and AIDS, with an emphasis on the human conditions that made each disease so successful, and on the ways these scourges have altered the course of human history. I will be enthusiastic in recommending this book to graduate students in the School of Public Health where I teach.