Spores, Plagues and History: The Story of Anthrax

by Chris Holmes

Spores, Plagues and History is the tale of one of history's most deadly bacterium, which has been causing natural disease since the time of Moses and man-made illness since World War II. Beginning with a description of the U.S. anthrax bioterrorism attacks of 2001, the story goes back in time to the earlist hint of the disease, the 5th and 6th plagues of Moses. Several epidemics are then described where anthrax was the putative cause, (e.g. , the Plague of Athens in 430 B.C. and Woolsorter's Disease in England during the late 18th and early 19th centuries), arriving at the modern era, when anthrax and other pathogens were studied and used as weapons of mass destruction by several nations, including Japan, Russia and the U.S. The story concludes where it began, with a description of how the U.S. has prepared itself -- or not -- for a future bioterrorist attack.

Genres: Nonfiction, History

325 pages, Paperback

First published June 25, 2003

Reviews

[Emily Russell · Rating 3 out of 5]

There is some very, very interesting information in Spores, Plagues, and History. If you're into biological weapons and their history, I recommend reading.

This is a 3 star book for me just because of the pacing. At moments, this book is *tres devourable*, but then it inevitably slows to a crawl and creeps along until the next string of interesting facts.

[Jenaya J · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome historical account of biological warfare.

[Daniel · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book focuses on the history of Anthrax since Biblical times to the recent 2001 US Mail attacks. A very interesting read.