The core of this book is the authors' convincing demonstration that the Black Death, which killed perhaps half the population of Europe during the Middle Ages, was not bubonic plaque, as has long been thought and taught, but a different, unknown, and far more dangerous virus. This is a difference that makes a difference. Modern medicine understands, can quickly detect, and can effectively treat outbreaks of bubonic plaque, making a major re-emergence very unlikely. But if the mysterious virus behind the Black Death, or a close cousin, were to re-emerge, the results could be catastrophic, as the authors clearly show.
The authors reached this conclusion through patient sleuthing through ancient death records in towns and villages devastated by the Black Death. By tracing the exact lines of transmission, they were able to show that the virus had a long incubation period, during most of which people acted as unknowing carriers of the disease. By the time they developed its horrifying symptoms, it was too late for them and for those people they had crossed paths with.
Perhaps because the authors' historical research was so important in guiding them to their radical new conclusion, they devote the first half of the book to it. Readers who make it through this sometimes repetitious recitation will find the second half of the book much more rewarding and thought-provoking
Robert Adler, author of Medical Firsts: From Hippocrates to the Human Genome; and Science Firsts: From the Creation of Science to the Science of Creation
