Provides a history of disease and pestilence as told from the point of view of the bugs and pests that caused them, from common diseases such as influenza, malaria and tuberculosis to such rare diseases as leprosy, cholera, and bubonic plague.

Prepublication title: The book of hideous things. Previous copyright date of 2011, titled Plagues, pox, and pestilence. Includes index.

In the germ lab -- Under the microscope -- Disease : how it spreads -- The war on germs -- The rogues' gallery -- Black Death -- The plague spreads! -- "Unclean, unclean!" -- A deadly debate -- The unwell well -- Bug breakthrough -- Death in the air -- Childhood diseases -- Curing the pox -- Fighting back -- A wartime killer -- Famine and blight -- Fungus and fever -- Modern dangers -- X-ray rescue -- The future -- Germ terms.