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Viruses, Plagues, and History
- Past, Present, and Future
- Narrated by: L.J. Ganser
- Length: 13 hrs and 38 mins
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Viruses, Plagues, and History
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Summary
The story of viruses and humanity is a story of fear and ignorance, of grief and heartbreak, and of great bravery and sacrifice. Michael Oldstone tells all these stories as he illuminates the history of the devastating diseases that have tormented humanity, focusing mostly on the most famous viruses.
Oldstone begins with smallpox, polio, and measles. Nearly 300 million people were killed by smallpox in this century alone and the author presents a vivid account of the long campaign to eradicate this lethal killer. Oldstone then describes the fascinating viruses that have captured headlines in more recent years: Ebola, Hantavirus, mad cow disease (a frightening illness made worse by government mishandling and secrecy), and, of course, AIDS. And he tells us of the many scientists watching and waiting even now for the next great plague, monitoring influenza strains to see whether the deadly variant from 1918 - a viral strain that killed over 20 million people in 1918-1919 - will make a comeback. For this revised edition, Oldstone includes discussions of new viruses like SARS, bird flu, virally caused cancers, chronic wasting disease, and West Nile.
Viruses, Plagues, and History paints a sweeping portrait of humanity's long-standing conflict with our unseen viral enemies. Oldstone's book is a vivid history of a fascinating field, and a highly reliable dispatch from an eminent researcher on the front line of this ongoing campaign.
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What listeners say about Viruses, Plagues, and History
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Z.
- 25-11-20
NASAL VOICE of NARRATOR.
I find the nasal sound of the narrator irritating. Like he had a permanently blocked nose. It was a bit of a put-off for me of an otherwise interesting story.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Wild Bunny
- 30-11-21
Fantastic read
I'm a bit obsessed with viruses right now and this was a fascinating book from beginning to end. It's amazing that teeny tiny things that we can't even see without special microscopes can affect humans and history in such enormous and profound ways.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Amanda McFadyen
- 28-04-23
Great overview
I’d love to see an update of this book following Covid and Monkey virus outbreaks; having said that the book is an excellent review of historical outbreaks of illness and their impact on populations.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Goronwy-Wyn
- 25-05-19
Very interesting
While I listened to the book and gathered a great deal from it, the medical content will require some additional study to fully understand.
No reflection on the book which I enjoyed.
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4 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 10-01-20
Read this book
You don’t have to be of a medical profession just marvel at how incredible viruses and prions are , while we look to the stars another universe is going on inside us . L J Ganser gives excellent narration! Be scared and educated
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6 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
- Sean
- 27-03-20
This book
is scary, particularly at the present time whilst in the early stages of a corona virus pandemic. We'll worth the read.
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3 people found this helpful
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Overall2 out of 5 stars
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Performance2 out of 5 stars
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Story2 out of 5 stars
- Richard Tol
- 23-04-24
lost in detail
There are some interesting bits but the author buries them in excessive and unnecessary detail.
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