In her unsparing and illuminating account of the effects of AIDS in Africa, Epstein describes how health experts, governments, and ordinary Africans have struggled to understand the rapid and devastating spread of the disease as well as new medical and political developments.

Reviews

"An enlightening and troubling book."--"The New York Times"

"Helen Epstein is one of a rare species: the scientist turned storyteller. . . . [A] blunt, informed critique."--"Salon.com"

""

"The UN and President Bush should not just read Epstein's book, they should distribute it around Africa."--"The Sunday Times" (London)

"Elegant prose, a scientific background, and a journalist's searching anecdotal eye."--"Nature"

"Sometimes a bolt of clarity shoots out of the blue . . . as it will for readers of this book who yearn for insights on how a deadly virus now infects an estimated 25 million Africans and has killed untold millions more."--"The New York Times Book Review "

"Epstein has a compelling thesis, and she explains it in lucid, sometimes extraordinary prose."--"The Nation "