Is it true that Christopher Columbus brought a new variety of syphilis to Europe? What do the Lewis spouses and the eleventh president of the United States have in common? Are TB and vampires related? Lydia Kang and Nate Pedersen's book is a fascinating illustrated history of infectious disease epidemics: how they emerge, how they spread, what allows them to be diagnosed, and how we rush to destroy them before they destroy us. Plague, smallpox, leprosy, typhus, rabies, measles, anthrax, hepatitis, Ebola, HIV, coronavirus - how successfully does humanity cope with these diseases and are there any chances to defeat them once and for all?