No other disease has such a long, dramatic and terrible history as smallpox. It is the first (and so far the only) infectious disease to be totally eradicated.
Mozart, Voltaire, Elizabeth I and Abraham Lincoln all had it - and survived. Millions did not. The scourge of smallpox affected rich and poor alike, killing many and disfiguring the rest. 'Cures' included bleeding, purging, even crabs' eyes and oil of scorpions. Edward Jenner's breakthrough in 1796 started the slow, often controversial process of controlling the virus. By 1979, smallpox became the first ever disease to be eradicated. Yet today its possible use in biological warfare presents a major threat. This is a brilliant account of the history, and possible future, of a terrifying disease.
