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Plague: The Mysterious Past and Terrifying Future of the World s Most Dangerous Disease
Plague The Mysterious Past and Terrifying Future of the World s Most Dangerous Disease Author:Wendy Orent Plague is a terrifying mystery. It helped bring down the Roman and Byzantine empires. In the Middle Ages, it wiped out 40 million people -- 40% of the total population in Europe. The plague of London in the 17th cent. killed more than 1,000 people a day. In the early 20th cent., plague took the lives of 12 million in India. Weaponized strains of... more » plague still exist and could be replicated in almost any lab. This book pieces together a fascinating and terrifying historical whodunit. Orent s retelling of the four great pandemics in history makes for gripping reading and solves many puzzles. She reveals the differences among rat-based, prairie dog-based, and marmot-based plague. This book is chilling reading at the dawn of a new age of bioterrorism. Illus.« less