When Plague Strikes: The Black Death, Smallpox, AIDS

by James Cross Giblin

Book Overview

Compassionate and arresting, this exploration of three major diseases that have changed the course of history--the bubonic plague, smallpox, and AIDS--chronicles their fearsome death toll, their... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0060258543
• ISBN13: 9780060258542
• Release Date: January 1995
• Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
• Length: 212 Pages
• Weight: 1.15 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 6.3" x 9.2"
• Age Range: 12 years and up
• Grade Range: Grade 7 and higher

Customer Reviews

This book changed my life!

I read this book in 6th grade when I randomly picked it up from the new books section of the library. Up to that point I was never interested in anything medical, but this book inspired me to look in that direction. I was absolutely fascinated, from learning about the actually biology behind the plagues, to disease's influence on history. Fast forward 8 years, and I'm abouto start college and work towords a Pre Med degree. I am so happy I found something I'm passionate about, and am so thankful I found this book when I did!

The cover's neat too

I read this book when I was in the sixth grade. While I read it for fun, it was also useful later in the year for school. Being an avid disease book reader, this is one of the best. It could have gone in to a tiny bit more detail on the the symptoms, but then again some people can't handle that much anyway.

Informational and well-written

We read this book in class and it is an excellent source of information as well as interesting, and offers all points of view on each "plague" as well as the facts. Covers a lot on the little known parts, and victims of AIDS, and a short kind of Bio on Ryan White.

usefulness in AIDS/Black Plague research paper

I found this book to be useful for my specific topic: the social reactions of the populace to disease scares, although it would probably not fulfil the expexctations of someone looking to read only on one of the subjects.

The Book When Plague Strike by Giblin was very powerful.

I am currently writing a term paper comparing Aids to the Black Plague and I have found his book to be a great deal of help. I recomend this book to anyone interested in Science or the tragedies caused by diseases. This is definately one of the best books I've ever read. This book really opened my eyes and showed me how quickly a life can be taken away because of an illness.