Be Afraid. Be Very Afraid.

If you’re tired of being scared of the H1N1 flu, you can always take a break and be scared by other epidemics instead.

Dread: How Fear and Fantasy Have Fueled Epidemics from the Black Death to Avian Flu by Philip Alcabes is a new book on epidemics through history, and how underlying fears and agendas inspired fears as much as the diseases themselves. It’s now on order with (as of this moment) no reserves, so request it and you’ll be one of the first to receive it.

Pandemics and Global Health by Barry Youngerman is a part of the Global Issues series. It describes the different types of infectious diseases and an overview of epidemics and methods of control throughout history. After this introduction there follow case studies of the United States, China, Africa, and India and their governments’ responses to recent outbreaks of disease.

When Germs Travel: Six Major Epidemics That Have Invaded America Since 1900 by Howard Markel looks at how six diseases- tuberculosis, typhus, trachoma, bubonic plague, AIDS, and cholera- became connected to a fear of the unknown or foreign. He also examines the tendency to blame the victims of disease, and for rare diseases to inspire more fear than the more widespread but slower-moving.

-- Kristen, Main Library