The End of Plagues: The Global Battle Against Infectious Disease

World-renowned immunologist John Rhodes's The End of Plagues is "an engaging and expansive exploration of humankind's quest to defend itself against disease" (History Today).

At the turn of the twentieth century, smallpox claimed the lives of two million people per year. By 1979, the disease had been eradicated and victory was declared across the globe. Yet the story of smallpox remains the exception, as today a host of deadly contagions, from polio to AIDS, continue to threaten human health around the world.

Spanning three centuries, The End of Plagues weaves together the discovery of vaccination, the birth and growth of immunology, and the fight to eradicate the world's most feared diseases. From Edward Jenner's discovery of vaccination in 1796, to the early nineteenth-century foundling voyages in which chains of orphans, vaccinated one by one, were sent to colonies around the globe, to the development of polio vaccines and the stockpiling of smallpox as a biological weapon in the Cold War, Rhodes charts our fight against these plagues, and shows how vaccinations gave humanity the upper hand.

Author: John Rhodes
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Published: 09/24/2013
Pages: 256
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 0.94lbs
Size: 9.51h x 6.45w x 0.93d
ISBN: 9781137278524

Review Citation(s):
Kirkus Reviews 07/15/2013
Library Journal 09/01/2013 pg. 132
Choice 05/01/2014

About the Author

John Rhodes is an international expert in immunology and vaccine discovery, and has held research fellowships at the US National Institutes of Health and the University of Cambridge. From 2001 to 2007 he was director of strategy in immunology at GlaxoSmithKline, a leading multinational healthcare company. He is a fellow of the Royal College of Pathologists, has served on UK government international vaccine missions and published numerous articles in leading journals such as Nature, Science and the Lancet. He lives and works in Cambridge, UK.