PositiveThe New York Times Book ReviewWe meet giants in the history of germs ... Some of the tangents along the way are amusing ... But the book is, above all, a polemic against those in power who continue to neglect this well-known killer ... I could have done without the long forays into the intricacies of patent law. Krishnan’s writing is most powerful toward the end, when she introduces us to patients in Mumbai whose struggles illustrate the failures of the Indian government ... I wished for a global picture of the disease early on—one that included places like Eastern Europe, where drug-resistant TB is rampant, for example. A more comprehensive picture of TB might have better justified its chronological history for the first third of the book. At its best, Krishnan’s writing is clear and compelling, and the book is a worthy read for anyone interested in public health and infectious diseases.
