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SCOURGE

Name: SCOURGE
Author: Jonathan B. Tucker
ISBN: 0-87113-830-1

THE ONCE AND FUTURE THREAT OF SMALLPOX

by Jonathan B. Tucker ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 1, 2001

A true-life tale of heroes and villains, frighteningly real and marvelously told.

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Biological- and chemical-weapons expert Tucker offers a chilling account of smallpox’s history, eradication, and temporary reprieve from total extinction, in virology labs in the US and Russia.

Beginning with the biological origins of smallpox, Tucker (Toxic Terror, not reviewed) traces civilization’s battle against this particularly disgusting disease. Noting its profound effect on historic events, from Athens’ defeat in the Peloponnesian War to Cortez’s subjugation of the Aztec empire, the author goes on to document humankind’s battles against it, leading up to the World Health Organization’s triumph of eradication in the 1960s and ’70s. The author spins an engaging tale of the gritty conquerors and accidents of history that allowed smallpox to become a focus of global efforts, narrowly beating out malaria as the scourge of choice for the international community. From African deserts to Bangladeshi slums, untold thousands worked to follow chains of infection and to inoculate in the most trying conditions, many destroying their own health in the quest to break the back of the disease. As told by Tucker, it’s a stirring tale, equaled in emotional impact only by horrifying saga of what happened after the WHO Nairobi field office documented the world’s last known smallpox case in 1978. “The Kremlin cynically viewed this triumph of international public health as a military opportunity,” he writes. The Soviets had incorporated biological weapons research into their military agenda beginning in the 1930s, and it remained on their five-year plans through the 1991 dissolution of the USSR. Tucker’s in-depth report on the tremendous resources and scientific brainpower toiling away in maximum-security Russian labs is mightily compelling, and his command of the myriad international political players and details is masterful. His vivid descriptions of the disease’s symptoms, revolting and riveting in equal measure, ensure that only the most jaded reader could lay the book aside.

A true-life tale of heroes and villains, frighteningly real and marvelously told.

Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2001

ISBN: 0-87113-830-1

Page Count: 304

Publisher: Atlantic Monthly

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2001

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

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NUTCRACKER

by E.T.A. Hoffmann ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 28, 1996

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This is not the Nutcracker sweet, as passed on by Tchaikovsky and Marius Petipa. No, this is the original Hoffmann tale of 1816, in which the froth of Christmas revelry occasionally parts to let the dark underside of childhood fantasies and fears peek through. The boundaries between dream and reality fade, just as Godfather Drosselmeier, the Nutcracker's creator, is seen as alternately sinister and jolly. And Italian artist Roberto Innocenti gives an errily realistic air to Marie's dreams, in richly detailed illustrations touched by a mysterious light. A beautiful version of this classic tale, which will captivate adults and children alike. (Nutcracker; $35.00; Oct. 28, 1996; 136 pp.; 0-15-100227-4)

Pub Date: Oct. 28, 1996

ISBN: 0-15-100227-4

Page Count: 136

Publisher: Harcourt

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1996

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

- BOOK REVIEW
THE NUTCRACKER AND THE MOUSE KING
by E.T.A. Hoffmann ; adapted by Natalie Andrewson ; illustrated by Natalie Andrewson

- BOOK REVIEW
THE NUTCRACKER
by E.T.A. Hoffmann & illustrated by Julie Paschkis

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TO THE ONE I LOVE THE BEST

EPISODES FROM THE LIFE OF LADY MENDL (ELSIE DE WOLFE)

by Ludwig Bemelmans ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 23, 1955

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An extravaganza in Bemelmans' inimitable vein, but written almost dead pan, with sly, amusing, sometimes biting undertones, breaking through. For Bemelmans was "the man who came to cocktails". And his hostess was Lady Mendl (Elsie de Wolfe), arbiter of American decorating taste over a generation. Lady Mendl was an incredible person,- self-made in proper American tradition on the one hand, for she had been haunted by the poverty of her childhood, and the years of struggle up from its ugliness,- until she became synonymous with the exotic, exquisite, worshipper at beauty's whrine. Bemelmans draws a portrait in extremes, through apt descriptions, through hilarious anecdote, through surprisingly sympathetic and understanding bits of appreciation. The scene shifts from Hollywood to the home she loved the best in Versailles. One meets in passing a vast roster of famous figures of the international and artistic set. And always one feels Bemelmans, slightly offstage, observing, recording, commenting, illustrated.