How to Survive a Plague: The Story of How Activists and Scientists Tamed AIDS

by David France

5 of 5 stars 1 rating • 2 reviews • 4 shelved
Book cover for How to Survive a Plague

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Winner of The Green Carnation Prize for LGBTQ literature

Winner of the Lambda Literary Award for LGBT non-fiction

Shortlisted for the Wellcome Book Prize 2017

'This superbly written chronicle will stand as a towering work in its field' Sunday Times

'Inspiring, uplifting and necessary reading' - Steve Silberman author of Neurotribes, Financial Times

How to Survive a Plague by David France is the riveting, powerful and profoundly moving story of the AIDS epidemic and the grass-roots movement of activists, many of them facing their own life-or-death struggles, who grabbed the reins of scientific research to help develop the drugs that turned HIV from a mostly fatal infection to a manageable disease. Around the globe, the 15.8 million people taking anti-AIDS drugs today are alive thanks to their efforts.

Not since the publication of Randy Shilts's now classic And the Band Played On in 1987 has a book sought to measure the AIDS plague in such brutally human, intimate, and soaring terms.

Weaving together the stories of dozens of individuals, this is an insider's account of a pivotal moment in our history and one that changed the way that medical science is practised worldwide.

  • ISBN10 1509839380
  • ISBN13 9781509839384
  • Publish Date 1 December 2016 (first published 29 November 2016)
  • Publish Status Out of Print
  • Out of Print 26 January 2021
  • Publish Country GB
  • Publisher Pan Macmillan
  • Imprint Picador
  • Format Hardcover
  • Pages 640
  • Language English