Breathless

The Scientific Race to Defeat a Deadly Virus

'A luminous, passionate account of the defining crisis of our time' New York Times

From the bestselling author of Spillover, the book that predicted the pandemic, this is the story of Covid-19 and its fierce journey through the human population, as seen by the scientists tasked with fighting it.

David Quammen draws on countless interviews with experts, including leading virologists, to take us inside the global race to understand SARS-CoV-2, it's ever-changing nature and capacity to kill. In doing so, he explains how new viruses emerge when we disrupt ecosystems and suggests why the coronavirus may be here to stay.

By peering over the shoulders of the brilliant scientists leading the chase, Breathless uncovers the warnings from infectious diseases experts that went unheeded; and which clues are the most compelling in the hunt for the virus' origin.

'A classic...a masterpiece' Stanley Prusiner, Nobel Prize Winner

'A viral howdunnit that is pacy and unafraid to educate readers' Observer


'As close to authoritative history as we have... It reads like a real-time thriller' Chicago Tribune
A supernova in among science journalists
Oprah Daily

About David Quammen

David Quammen's sixteen previous books include The Tangled Tree, The Song of the Dodo, The Reluctant Mr. Darwin, and Spillover, a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award and recipient of the Premio Letterario Merck. He has written for the New Yorker, Harper's Magazine, the Atlantic, National Geographic and Outside, among other publications, and is a three-time winner of the National Magazine Award.

Quammen shares a home in Bozeman, Montana, with his wife, Betsy Gaines Quammen, author of American Zion, and with two Russian wolfhounds, a cross-eyed cat, and a rescue python.

Visit him at DavidQuammen.com
Details
  • Imprint: Vintage Digital
  • ISBN: 9781473588806
  • Length: 448 pages
  • Price: £5.99
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