Angel of Death: The Story of Smallpox

The story of a vision that became a reality. Gareth Williams dramatically brings to life the history of smallpox, its devastating effect across the world on both rich and poor through the centuries, and its eventual defeat. I did not know that, before Jenner invented the safe procedure of vaccination, people were prepared to go through the horrors of variolation which carried a real risk of death. They thought it a better bet than catching a disease which meant an agonising death for many and disfigurement for most of those who survived. Nor did I know that smallpox had its origins in a gerbil pox. Nor that Jenner receives far greater recognition for his contribution outside Britain than in his home country.Once vaccination had been invented and proved effective, proponents had to fight off a backlash, not least from the medical profession which risked losing the lucrative business of administering the more complex and costly procedure of variolation. Anti-vaccination movements developed the strategies and rhetoric which live on in the 20th century with the attacks on the MMR vaccine.An attempt to consign the idea of eradicating smallpox to the long grass by giving the task to an unlikely candidate failed. An underfunded worldwide organisation was cobbled together and, 30 years ago, was able to announce that there were no more cases in the wild. It puts to shame the many bureaucratic multi-national efforts, official and non-governmental, which are carried on today.Williams ends his fascinating story by speculating on the dangers posed, in our unstable world, by the remaining stocks of smallpox virus which various governments have chosen to keep.All this, and much, much more, awaits you in this exciting and compelling volume.

Many people know the story of Jenner, cowpox, and the birth of vaccination against smallpox. While that story plays a central role in this book, Gareth Williams gives it a great deal of context without which the history of vaccination cannot be understood. So the first third or so of the book gives us the history of variolation, the procedure of inoculating with smallpox itself, a practice common in different forms in different forms across the world (e.g. Africa, China, Turkey) and popularised in Britain by Lady Mary Wortley Montagu (who brought it from Istanbul) and then in the American Colonies by Cotton Mather (who was also involved in the Salem witch trials). Williams's book not only tells us about the history of smallpox before vaccination, and Jenner's discovery (and the disputes and battles surrounding it), but also the subsequent history of smallpox vaccination and resistance to it, up to the smallpox eradication campaign led by Donald Henderson.This book is a joy to read. There is solid scholarship behind it, but this does not affect the writing style which is straightforward and engaging. The story of smallpox is a story of suffering and of discovery, it is also the storey of many compelling characters who come through vividly in this super book.

A very readable history of Smallpox- do not underestimate it! Or indeed the writer, Graham Williams, who went on to write another great book about polio. This is also a very readable bit of medical history, accompanied by relevant photographs and diagrams. Recommended!

This is a fabulous account of the history of this thankfully eliminated ghastly illness. Well written, meticulously researched and a riveting story.Makes it all the more extraordinary that Edward Jenner is so little regarded - his home should be a UNESCO world heritage site and many more should make the effort to learn about this extraordinary discovery and its wonderful consequences for humankind.Lifts one spirits and makes one proud to be British and to think of the achievements science is capable of. Millions will be spared the agonies and devastation of this awful illness. This is a great read - thoroughly recommended

Fascinating read, if not necessarily the most accurate in the finer detail.