The Viral Storm, Nathan Wolfe
If you’re already familiar with pop science books about diseases, this isn’t really going to surprise you any. It’s competently written, though at times the statistics are a little off (as another reviewer pointed out). I don’t agree that he’s too unduly alarmist, though; our current environmental and social conditions are just about perfect for a pandemic (viral or otherwise) to sweep through the world’s population. If you doubt it, The Great Influenza by John M. Barry should disabuse you of that notion, rapidly. And our world is more interconnected now, not less.
I hoped that this might be a little more in depth, given Wolfe being a biologist and all, but there’s nothing that really elevates it above other pop science books available. It’s honestly rather forgettable.
Rating: 3/5
Buy this book: Amazon UK | Amazon US | The Book Depository
The above affiliate links, at no extra cost to you, provide a small commission for me if you purchase something.
I find I’m constantly watching media and internet for signs of possible global pandemics! It must be the prepper in me struggling to get out!
chucklesthescot recently posted…Chuckles Reading Stats 2017 Review
Unfortunately, I think sometimes the fact that these pandemics haven’t emerged so far is making people complacent. “Oh, swine flu was nothing, so I won’t believe the warnings next time…” But the reason swine flu wasn’t a problem was because we knew what we were doing to combat it!