The book entails the real-life global health events that have shaken the world in the 20th century.
Garrett provides a commentary on major events in history that have contributed to the rise of epidemics and the resurgence of old and new diseases alike. She talks about the impact of pollution, landfill sites, war zones, poverty and lack of sanitation on the global death rates to diseases such as HIV/AIDS, Lyme Disease, TB and Cholera. She also goes on to discuss the specific processes of each disease and breaks it down to non-biologist’s in a simplified way of understanding.
She further highlights the lack of aid provided by wealthier nations in the global health crisis. She stresses that instead of working in a collaborative manner, countries often only act in their own self-interest until it is too late. She highlights how different the outcome would have been if countries were not afraid of intervening for the sake of political and economic reasons in the first place.
Ultimately, Garrett attempts to inform the reader on the history of diseases and how we can overcome and prevent their rise in numbers through simple methods like hygiene and education.
