Diarmuid Jeffreys traces the story of aspirin from the drug's origins in ancient Egypt, through its industrial development at the end of the nineteenth century and its key role in the great flu pandemic of 1918, to its subsequent exploitation by the pharmaceutical conglomerates and the marvelous powers still being discovered today.
Diarmuid Jeffreys is a British writer, journalist, and television producer who has made current affairs and documentary programs for BBC TV, Channel 4, and others. He is also the author of The Bureau: Inside the Modern FBI. He lives with his wife and children in East Sussex.
A San Francisco Chronicle Best Book of 2004
"Jeffreys is an extremely clever and accessible writer, and his book is comprehensible while still being smart. If it is possible to get giddy over aspirin, Jeffreys manages it. This enthusiasm injects his well-researched prose with a verve and drama that makes for something of a medical history page-turner."-Oregonian
"A remarkable story...This is more than the story of aspirin: It is a history lesson."-San Diego Union-Tribune
"Diarmuid Jeffreys seamlessly manages his complicated subject...Throughout, Jeffreys renders an absorbing account of the drug's ride from obscurity to celebrity and around about again to its rebirth as today's wonder drug."-San Francisco Chronicle
"One of the most fascinating stories in the whole of medicine."-New Scientist Also available: HC 1-58234-386-1 ISBN 978-158234-386-0 $25.95
