I found this a strangely calming read during the COVID-19 pandemic the world is suffering right now. Details the history of previous world pandemics in a scientific-based book which is eminently readable. Thank you for this timely book.

Pretty timely book and a quick easy read, as well. It's nice to find all the vital information needed in one book, from origin of disease to managing it's origins. I found the book very helpful at easing my anxiety over this pandemic. Who know's who will survive it, but we all do our best. Many vaccines are on the way and most will be effective in combating covid. Vaccines have been found in the past that now protect us, science will find a solution to this one. The book was interesting in it's division of how the pandemic was discovered and handles. Also explains, very well, why we should expect to see pandemics in the future and find a way to be better prepared for them in the future.

The story of our Times, this book looks at the case of Covid 19, whilst also examining how other viruses have 'worked, including the Spanish flu, and been the scourge of humanity that they are.

Smallpox for example, when first introduced to the americas alongside other diseases such as measles, killed about 90% of the indigenous populations there - here, literally decimating them: impressive. The Black Death killed a mere 60% of the population.

A lot of this slim missive is devoted to the science of what a virus actually is: hardly even said to be living, they are, like the computer virus, units of genetic code that can only replicate by hi-jacking the cells of humans. The diagrams in general are professionally produced for better understanding and reading by the lay person, though one diagram looked to be hand-drawn and written.

Just as important is the human reaction of each country to the crisis, and this book does emphasise how important and successful good leadership is in a crisis like this, New Zealand being the best case in point. The herd immu ity theory is discussed, though currently is is recognised that this approach did not really work. The best approach appears to use strict measures when the infection rate reaches a certain point, to cautiously ease these when this comes down, but ultimately the much-hoped for safe vaccination is the only way to achieve true herd immunity.

This book places faith in good citizens to understand the need for responsible behaviour during plague times.

Why not read about the hard science of it all in a book like this. Here, the ingenuity of microbiology and medical science show the way forward, where diseases such as smallpox, polio, plague and smallpox did become a thing of the past.

This book really was not cohesive. Part of it read as a medical textbook with charts and bogged down jargon. Then other parts were more of a self help book, but pretty shallow. A list such as How To Calm Anxiety was very generic. It did not address a pandemic and fears involved specifically with this issue. It was just a general guideline of 10 tips for controlling anxiety, most of which I have read many times. Get busy. Don’t procrastinate, just start a project like doing a garden. Huh? Such basic, seen a million times kind of advice. With Corona Virus where people live very close to one another, they may want to actually do this and can’t due to being to close to neighbors.

Plan ahead and get provisions. People in October 2020 are reading this book for help with the Covid Virus. Honestly, that is useless information at this point.

So, thank you NetGalley for providing an advance copy of this book.

I found this book to be very informative and enjoyed reading about other historical pandemics. I don’t agree with a lot of the authors comments but still found it very useful, I’d not dry in places.

Disappointing

The book left me unsatisfied. I thought the science discussion was weak and that some of the suggestions were simplistic. On the other hand, the book does maintain a conversational, friendly and overall optimistic tone.
Disclosure: I received an advance reader copy of this book via Netgalley for review purposes.

I read through this in no time, because I was so concerned about the subject matter. It turns out that the climate crisis is worse. Still, I got plenty of tips for protecting my health, in the circumstances, as much as possible, and plenty of food for thought. If we learn from this pandemic to respect and give space to nature more, it will be a good thing. The best book I have read so far on the pandemic, and I recommend it.