HUMANS might be the dominant species on the planet, but boy, how they are afflicted by a whole range of organisms from viruses and bacteria to fungi and small parasite animals.

They are not nice to know in any shape or form and while we can defend ourselves against many such organisms today, it is only recently that this has been the case. Grove documents the stories of many of these agents of disease which have been the curse of mankind for millennia, and it makes for unpleasant, if fascinating, reading.