Epidemics of disease have shaped the course of human civilization and our societies. In their relentlessly democratic assault on human populations, princes and paupers, men and women, the old and the young have all been affected by disease, their lives and the lives of those around them ended abruptly or changed forever. Tracing the ripple effects of disease from the individual human body outward to the home, the streets, the schools, halls of government, and hospital wards, each book examines how a specific disease created chaos and panic and transformed communities. Each book also relates the inspiring and gripping tale of the medical community's heroic rush to treat the sick, tend the dying, and find a cure