Books for Prep | |
 - ExtraordinaryAfter finishing this book you will never read a newspaper the same way again. I am amazed, and a little scared, at how much of what Laurie Garrett wrote in 1995 has come to pass in 2007. Her story about the "disease cowboys" who track the causes of unexplained epidemics in the remote corners of the world is both absorbing and eye-opening. And it has helped me to see disturbing trends in current news stories that I would have missed had I not read The Coming Plague. When it first appeared, I avoided this book because it seemed depressing and alarmist. In the years since I have had occasion to work on some international communications projects and in the process came to be interested in global public health. Once that happened, reading Garrett's book was essential. She is one of the most informed individuals writing on global public health in the US today. Amazingly, although the material is sobering and sometimes truly scary, the book is not in the least depressing. It often reads like an adventure story. If you like detective puzzles, you'll be drawn into Garrett's tales of Ebola turning up in Reston, Virginia, and Marburg virus being unwittingly spread by do-gooder missionaries in the Congo. Irony abounds. It turns out that much of the good we thought we were doing in the developing world was exactly the wrong thing. Garrett relates that many development projects and purported medical "advances" served to promote the evolution of drug resistant bacteria and viruses, while also raising wildly unrealistic expectations for the eradication of disease among the public and the medical establishment. The results are the return of diseases we thought were gone for good, such as TB and -- get this -- bubonic plague, and they are even harder to treat this time around because the microbes are resistent to many antibiotics and drug therapies. Don't be daunted by the 700+ pages of this book. It is a great read and definitely worth the time you will invest in educating yourself about the the impact of human beings and our technological development on the ecology of microbial environments. I recommend The Coming Plague most highly. Rating: - One of the Four HorsemenI read this book when it first came out and lost it when a friend didn't return it. This a fascinating book and since it was first published SARS and Bird Flu has entered our world. If you are prone to panic attacks or nightmares don't read this book because the author did a fantastic job at research and has revealed our future and the diseases that will alter it. Rating: - Superb researchThis book is superb for a number of reasons but the meticulous research behind it really stands out. There is not an idea or suggested proposition that is not referenced to one - and sometimes - mulitple sources. The tentive conclusions that are laid out are suggested only after exhaustive research and tightly logical arguments. It is not just the research and the logic, however, that makes this book so good. The book is well written and conveys the difficult subject matter of emerging, infectious diseases in a highly readable but detailed and informative matter. The book is also laid out in a very logical fashion. In different chapters it covers everything from the etiology of new diseases to methods of transmission to social and cultural factors involved in their spread to the drama of in-field investigation of new and fiercely lethal pathogens. The book also explores the most recent research on the evolution of new diseases, with discoveries that may portend revolutions in the understanding the natural world. In short, this is an indespensible work for anyone wishing to understand the emergence of new diseases and cutting edge science in the modern world. Rating:  - BUREAUCRATIC BUNGLING AND POLITICAL CORRECTNESSI began to read this book with hope it would be a good one. I figured it might cover the science of a new epidemic, or its social consequences. Or perhaps it would focus on historical plagues, giving us a glimpse of what the future has in store. Different diseases could be compared and contrasted. The author however, chose none of these approaches. She produced instead a book that was filled mostly with accounts of bureaucratic incompetence, political short sightedness, and conservative religion, permeated with a tone of whiny political correctness that is most irratating. The last third of the book is taken up with attacks on the Reagan administration and conservative Christians for their approach to AIDS policy. If the reader wants this type of book, then by all means put 'The Coming Plague' on your reading list. I would suggest looking at other publications. Of course, to be fair, at over 600 pages, there is a lot in this book, and some of it is quite good. Early chapters on Ebola and Legionaires disease are interesting, and keep the reader going. Too bad Garrett turned the second portion into a political sermon. Rating: - Awesome Book!This book is a very long read, but the details and the descriptions make it unbelievably entertaining and educational. I would recommend this to anyone interested in the field of microbiology or just someone who is plain curious about learning about disease outbreaks, the people who fight them and what the future holds in store for us in regards to different diseases. A very in-depth book, one of the best I've read in a long time, the author put this together very well and it is a book that anyone could get into, just plain outstanding! In association with Amazon.com | |