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Spores, Plagues and History: The Story of Anthrax

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ANTHRAX! SMALLPOX! PLAGUE! Until recently, most Americans were unfamiliar with these terms or assumed they were a part of history. The October, 2001 anthrax cases catapulted this condition into the headlines and the minds of many. What are the agents and the illnesses they cause? How worried should we be and what can we do to protect ourselves? With new infectious diseases emerging and old ones resurfacing, the challenge of early detection, containment and prevention is urgent.

Dr. Chris Holmes has written a provocative, engrossing book that offers the general reader the answers to these questions. 'Spores, Plagues and History' follows the trail of anthrax from prebiblical times to the present. The reader gains an appreciation for the challenge early investigators faced in responding to clusters of illness when the cause was not known. 'Spores, Plagues and History' also provides a highly readable, authoritative perspective of the role other infectious agents have played in world history.

Michele Ginsberg, Chief of Community Epidemiology
HHSA, San Diego County, California

Medical epidemiologist Chris Holmes, M.D. presents Spores, Plagues, And History: The Story Of Anthrax, a straightforward accounting of this devastating disease and its effects on humanity throughout history. From "woolsorter's disease" during the Industrial Revolution, to modern-day biological weapons, and so much more, Holmes' extensively researched sources aptly traces a path in clear, no-nonsense terms that students of both World History and Medical History will greatly appreciate. A work of impeccable scholarship, Spores, Plagues, And History is very strongly recommended for academic library reference collections.

This great book about the history of anthrax covers a lot of ground in relatively few pages. The more I learn about the author, the more I realize this man knows what he is talking about. I feel calmer about anthrax after reading this book.

The author is a native of Canada, Chris Holmes, and he received his M.D. from the University of Cincinnati's College of Medicine and served in the Air Force during Vietnam. After stints in private practice and academia, he became a Navy physician and has studied extensively nuclear, biological and chemical warfare. He led the medical team aboard the USS Tripoli during the 1992 U.S. intervention in Somalia.

Captain Holmes, MC, USN (Ret.) has been studying the history of medicine for over 35 years. He is the author of two books dealing with Anthrax. He is a physician, epidemiologist, an authority on disease and bio-warfare past and present, and is arguably the world's leading authority on the history of anthrax. Dr. Holmes has taught at medical schools, has published many scholarly articles, and is certified in submarine and diving medicine with the U.S. Navy, just to survey some of his extraordinary experience.

His Op-Ed's have appeared in newspapers from San Diego to Tennessee, and he has been interviewed on radio talk-shows from San Francisco to Boston. Dr. Holmes has also appeared on Fox News with Mr. John Gibson, being interviewed about monkeypox and infectious diseases and on XETV in San Diego, being interviewed on Fox in the Morning about anthrax and bioterrorism.

I just got my copy of Dr. Holms Spores, Plagues, and History, a title cleverly adopted from Zinsser's Rats, Lice, and History, an account of the bubonic place from a couple of generations back.

After a preliminary peek I can say that this book will entertain me with facts about the recent bioterrorist's use of anthrax spores to create havoc after 9/11. This takes the first 3 chapters and allied subject matter takes up chapters 12-18. His report on the Sverdlovsk outbreak in 1979 will be especially welcome. One thing Dr. Holmes makes clear from the outset is a key fact to understanding anthrax outbreaks, that few doctors even knew about before those tainted letters were circulated. Anthrax attacks via three corridors into the body: the skin, the lung, and the GI tract. And by each route the symptoms it causes mimic symptoms of many another disease.

One speculation Dr. Holmes makes, I can certainly concur with, having myself, as a classics professor interested in ancient medicine, already concluded the same: the plague at Athens in 430 BCE ff. was caused by an anthrax infestation. However I was disappointed a bit (I have read this chapter) by his treatment of that case in history. His little drama in two acts, while entertaining us with a likely scenario, could well be taken by the untutored reader to be based in fact. It is not.

Thanking him for his very first treatment in print of the anthrax conundrum, I can see that there is still room for me to add to our general store of knowledge on this hideous infective agent.

Spores, Plagues and History: The Story of Anthrax, by Chris Holmes, M.D. is basically the history of the discovery of anthrax and its roll in shaping history. Although the book is interesting, I would not consider it a good source of research information.

According to the author, anthrax could have been purposely used in a way that may have changed the course of history. For instance, there is evidence that an assassin may have may have killed Alexander the Great by infecting him with anthrax spores. Then the question becomes: How would history have changed if Alexander had lived? Who cares? There is also evidence that the great Black Death in Europe my have actually been an anthrax outbreak instead of bubonic plague. It seems that the two diseases have similar symptoms. It's an interesting stretch of the imagination, but one that's unsupported by any hard facts.

In modern times, Anthrax is a pathogen that's easily weaponized, and readily accessible as a weapon of terror. In this regard, the author discusses the twenty-four mysterious cases of anthrax infections in 2001 that resulted in five deaths.

The book was written by an M.D. and is an interesting read, albeit a mediocre source of background information for anyone seriously interested in biohazards and asymmetrical warfare.

I read Dr. Holmes' "Spores, Plagues and History" after having finished his two novels, "The Medusa Strain" and "Garden of Evil." Coming to "Spores" from two fiction pieces, I expected an informative, but probably academic treatment of the subject. To my surprise, I found the book to be highly readable and captivating. It held my interest more than I had expected.

Dr. Holmes launches us into the subject and makes it relevant to today by looking at the anthrax breakouts in the US after 9/11. From this starting point, he traces the history of anthrax from early Greek times to the present, but takes in much more than just the medical side. He leads us through areas of military history, sociology, biological research and bio-weaponry. Most riveting are the disclosures of activities related to chemical and biological warfare in the 20th century - including activities undertaken by elements of the US government.

I rate this book as riveting as the top-tier offerings of the science-based fiction writers of today. It should appeal most to readers with wide-ranging interests.