Rabid: A Cultural History of the World’s Most Diabolical Virus

A maddened creature, frothing at the mouth, lunges at an innocent victim …

With a bite, the creature transforms its prey into another monster. It’s a scenario that underlies out darkest tales of supernatural horror, but its power derives from a very real virus, a deadly scourge known to humankind from our earliest days. In this lively and engrossing investigation, journalist Bill Wasik and veterinarian Monica Murphy chart four thousand years of the history, science, and cultural mythology of rabies. From Greek myths to zombie flicks, from the laboratory heroics of Louis Pasteur to the contemporary search for a lifesaving treatment, Rabid is a fresh and often wildly entertaining look at one of humankind’s oldest and most fearsome foes.

‘In this keen and exceptionally well-written book, rife with surprises, narrative suspense, and a steady flow of expansive insights, 'the world’s most diabolical virus’ conquers the unsuspecting reader’s imaginative nervous system … A smart, unsettling, and strangely stirring piece of work.‘ San Francisco Chronicle

'Fascinating … Wasik and Murphy chronicle more than two millennia of myths and discoveries about rabies and the animals that transmit it, including dogs, bats, and raccoons.’ The Wall Street Journal