They come in swarms and hordes, and assail us by day and by night. They maim and kill with clinical efficiency and dispassionate nonchalance, doing so with brutal swiftness or leisurely sluggishness. In whatever form they take, they demand our attention and insist on our respect, and they leave in their wake the rubble of death and destruction.
Indeed infections evoke our worst fears and strike terror in our hearts. They are behind countless medical horror stories because they expose our defences and weaken our safeguards. We have already reviewed how they do this in our previous book review series, 9 excellent books about viruses…for these ominous times.
![](http://By <a rel="nofollow" class="external free" href="https://wellcomeimages.org/indexplus/obf_images/93/98/1a14be71c9b6401743d0f0bd3e34.jpg">https://wellcomeimages.org/indexplus/obf_images/93/98/1a14be71c9b6401743d0f0bd3e34.jpg</a>Gallery: <a rel="nofollow" class="external free" href="https://wellcomeimages.org/indexplus/image/V0010686.html">https://wellcomeimages.org/indexplus/image/V0010686.html</a>Wellcome Collection gallery (2018-04-01): <a rel="nofollow" class="external free" href="https://wellcomecollection.org/works/mjyfmg28">https://wellcomecollection.org/works/mjyfmg28</a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC-BY-4.0</a>, <a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0" title="Creative Commons Attribution 4.0">CC BY 4.0</a>, <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=36456188">Link</a>)
But this did not do justice to the wide range of ways that infections petrify humanity. We are therefore going back into the infection field to explore the plagues and epidemics that have inflicted the cruellest toll on us. These are the deadly plagues that assault humanity with such worrying regularity.
But in their trail are lessons in breaking their stride and mitigating their disastrous impact. Therefore, in this book review series, we will delve into 12 excellent books to learn about 12 of the deadliest plagues to ever torment humanity. We will appreciate their chequered past and dubious present, and understand their destructive strengths and promising vulnerabilities. Below then are the 12 deadliest plagues…and the incredible books that tell their terrifying stories.
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RABIES
by Bill Wasik and Monica Murphy
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YELLOW FEVER
The American Plague
by Molly Caldwell Crosby
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TYPHOID
Typhoid Mary
by Judith Walzer Leavitt
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HEPATITIS B
Hepatitis B
by Baruch S. Blumberg
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POLIO
Polio
by David M. Oshinsky
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BUBONIC PLAGUE
The Great Mortality
by John Kelly
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SPANISH FLU
Pale Rider
by Laura Spinney
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TUBERCULOSIS
Spitting Blood
by Helen Bynum
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SMALLPOX
Angel of Death
by Gareth Williams
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MALARIA
by Robert S. Desowitz
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CHOLERA
The Medical Detective
by Sandra Hempel
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COVID-19
The Doctors Bookshelf 
