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The Front Pages of Christopher P. Winter

Some Depictions of Pandemics in Books and Films

These entries are taken from various sites on the Web. They are mostly someone's idea of noteworthy contributions to the topic. To this date, I have not read any of the books nor seen any of the films. Thus, I cannot recommend any of them; I merely pass them along for your information. The books are listed in no particular order; the films are sorted oldest to newest. Film titles in green are documentaries or docu-dramas. IMDB numbers in the films list link to each film's page in the Internet Movie Database.

Books

Title & Subtitle Author(s) Publisher Edition Date Format ISBN
Outbreak Culture:
The Ebola Crisis and the Next Epidemic		 Pardis Sabeti & Lara Salahi Harvard University Press 1 November, 2018 HC 978-0674976115
Pandemic:
Tracking Contagions, from Cholera to Ebola and Beyond		 Sonia Shah Sarah Crichton Books 1 February, 2016 HC 978-0374122881
The Psychology of Pandemics:
Preparing for the Next Global Outbreak of Infectious Disease		 Steven Taylor Cambridge Scholars Publishing 1 1 April 2020 KNDL ASIN: B086PXRG13
Deadliest Enemy:
Our War Against Killer Germs		 Michael Osterholm & Mark Olshaker Little, Brown Spark 1 14 March 2017 HC 978-0316343695
Monitoring the Health of Populations by Tracking Disease Outbreaks:
Saving Humanity from the Next Plague		 Ronald D Fricker & Steven E Rigdon Chapman and Hall/CRC 1 4 February 2020 HC 978-0367242831
On Immunity:
An Inoculation		 Eula Biss Graywolf Press 1 30 September 2014 HC 978-1555976897
Dread:
How Fear and Fantasy have Fueled Epidemics
from the Black Death to the Avian Flu		 Philip Alcabes PublicAffairs 1 14 April 2009 HC 978-1586486181
Ebola:
A novel of the first outbreak, by a doctor who was there		 Dr. William Close (Auth),
Joel Breman (Fwd)		 Ballantine Books 1 27 June 1995 MMPB 978-0804114325
Deadly Outbreaks:
How Medical Detectives Save Lives Threatened by
Killer Pandemics, Exotic Viruses, and Drug-Resistant Parasites		 Alexandra M Levitt, PhD Skyhorse Publishings 1 17 August 2013 HC ASIN: B00SCUFSOS
Black Death at the Golden Gate:
The Race to Save America from the Bubonic Plague		 David K. Randall W. W. Norton & Company 1 7 May 2019 HC 978-0393609455
Bird Flu:
A Virus of Our Own Hatching		 Michael Greger Lantern Books 1 15 November 2006 HC 978-1590560983
Plagues and Peoples William H McNeill Anchor Press / Doubleday 1 1976 PB ASIN: B019L5UERI
And the Band Played On:
Politics, People, and the AIDS Epidemic		 Randy Shilts St. Martin's Griffin; Revised edition 2 27 November 2007 PB 978-0312374631
Rats, Lice, and History:
A Chronicle of Pestilence and Plagues		 Hans Zinsser Black Dog & Leventhal 1 3 January 1996 HC ASIN: B01FGMVKC8
Ocean Outbreak:
Confronting the Rising Tide of Marine Disease		 Drew Harvell University of California Press 1 16 April 2019 HC 978-0520296978
The Ghost Map:
The Story of London's Most Terrifying Epidemic—
and How It Changed Science, Cities, and the Modern World		 Steven Johnson Riverhead Books; Reprint edition 2 2 October 2007 PB 978-1594482694
The Black Death Philip Ziegler Harper Perennial Modern Classics;
Reprint edition		 2 7 April 2009 PB 978-0061718984
The Great Mortality:
An Intimate History of the Black Death,
the Most Devastating Plague of All Time		 John Kelly Harper 1 1 February 2005 PB 978-0060006921
The American Plague:
The Untold Story of Yellow Fever,
the Epidemic that Shaped Our History		 Molly Caldwell Crosby Berkley Hardcover 1 7 November 2006 HC 978-0425212028
Plague's Progress:
A Social History of Man and Disease		 Arno Karlen Phoenix
(an Imprint of The Orion Publishing Group)		 2 31 August 2001 PB 978-0753814437
Virus Hunter:
Thirty Years of Battling Hot Viruses Around the World		 C. J. Peters & Mark Olshaker Anchor 2 13 April 1998 PB 978-0385485586
Poisons of the Past:
Moulds, Epidemics and History		 Mary Kilbourne Matossian Yale University Press 2 24 July 1991 PB 978-0300051216
Pale Rider:
The Spanish Flu of 1918 and How It Changed the World		 Laura Spinney PublicAffairs; Reprint edition 2 18 September 2018 PB 978-1541736122
Catching Breath:
The Making and Unmaking of Tuberculosis		 Kathryn Lougheed Bloomsbury Sigma 1 5 September 2017 HC 978-1472930330
Typhoid Mary:
An Urban Historical		 Anthony Bourdain Bloomsbury USA 1 4 May 2001 HC 978-1582341330
Polio:
An American Story		 David M. Oshinsky Oxford University Press 1 1 April 2005 HC ASIN: B00XV4QX0I
Inside the outbreaks:
The Elite Medical Detectives of the Epidemic Intelligence Service		 Mark Pendergrast Mariner Books 1 13 April 2011 HC 978-0547520308
Flu:
The Story Of The Great Influenza Pandemic of 1918
and the Search for the Virus that Caused It		 Gina Kolata Atria Books 2 9 January 2001 PB 978-0743203982
America's Forgotten Pandemic:
The Influenza of 1918		 Alfred W Crosby Cambridge University Press 2 21 July 2003 PB 978-0521541756
The Great Influenza:
The Epic Story of the Deadliest Plague in History		 John M Barry Penguin Books 2 4 October 2005 PB 978-0143036494
Spillover:
Animal Infections and the Next Human Pandemic		 David Quammen Norton Trade Titles; Reprint edition 2 9 September 2013 PB 978-0393346619
Killer Germs:
Microbes and Diseases That Threaten Humanity		 Barry E & David J Zimmerman McGraw-Hill Education 1 6 September 2002 PB 978-0071409261
Outbreak:
A Medical Thriller		 Robin Cook G.P. Putnam's Sons 1 2 February 1988 MMPB 978-0425106877
The Hot Zone:
The Terrifying True Story of the Origins of the Ebola Virus		 Richard Preston Anchor 1 20 July 1995 MMPB 978-0385479561
Year of Wonders:
A Novel of the Plague		 Geraldine Brooks Penguin Books; Reprint edition 1 30 April 2002 PB 978-0007743032
The Pandemic Century:
One Hundred Years of Panic, Hysteria, and Hubris		 Mark Honigsbaum W. W. Norton & Company 1 9 April 2019 HC 978-0393254754
The Chickens Fight Back:
Pandemic Panics and Deadly Diseases
That Jump from Animals to Humans		 David Waltner-Toews Greystone Books 1 23 March 2007 PB 978-1553652700
The Coming Plague:
Newly Emerging Diseases in a World Out of Balance		 Laurie Garrett Penguin; Reprint edition 2 1 October 1995 PB 978-0140250916
Beating Back the Devil:
On the Front Lines with the Disease Detectives
of the Epidemic Intelligence Service		 Maryn McKenna Free Press 1 28 July 2008 PB 978-1439123102
The Next Pandemic:
On the Front Lines Against Humankind's Gravest Dangers		 Dr. Ali S. Khan & William Patrick PublicAffairs 1 24 May 2016 HC 978-1610395915
Epidemics Laid Low:
A History of What Happened in Rich Countries		 Patrice Bourdelais Johns Hopkins University Press 1 25 April 2006 HC 978-0801882944
The End of Epidemics:
The Looming Threat to Humanity and How to Stop It		 Dr. Jonathan D. Quick & Bronwyn Fryer Johns Hopkins University Press 1 30 January 2018 HC 978-1250117779
Epidemics and Society:
From the Black Death to the Present		 Frank M Snowden Yale University Press 1 1 May 2020 PB 978-0300256390
Viruses, Plagues, and History:
Past, Present and Future		 Michael B. A. Oldstone M.D. Oxford University Press
Revised Edition		 2 2 November 2009 PB 978-0195327311
Animal Viruses and Humans, a Narrow Divide:
How Lethal Zoonotic Viruses Spill Over and Threaten Us		 Warren A. Andiman Paul Dry Books 1 29 May 2018 PB 978-1589881228
The Big Nap:
How We Failed to Foresee History's Pandemics, From Bubonic Plague to The Spanish Flu of 1918 to Right Now!		 James Simon Independently published 1 5 May 2020 PB 979-8643392613
World War Z:
An Oral History of the Zombie War		 Max Brooks Crown 1 12 September 2006 HC 978-0307346605
A Journal of the Plague Year Daniel Defoe Oxford University Press 2 9 September 2010 PB ASIN: B0182Q2C86
The Betrothed Alessandro Manzoni Everyman's Library 2 17 September 2013 HC ASIN: B01K14IQKA
The Plague Albert Camus Modern Library 2 1 January 1962 HC ASIN: B004LOE8CC
On Pandemics:
Deadly Diseases from Bubonic Plague to Coronavirus
(First published as The Chickens Fight Back)		 David Waltner-Toews Greystone Books 2 28 May 2020 PB 978-1771648110
Coronavirus:
A Book For Kids
(Age Range: 3 - 9 years)		 R.L. Margolin Indy Pub 1 15 April 2020 PB 978-1087877471
COVID-19:
The Pandemic that Never Should Have Happened
and How to Stop the Next One		 Debora MacKenzie Hachette Books 1 14 July 2020 HC 978-0306924248
Understanding Coronavirus Raul Rabadan Cambridge University Press 1 16 June 2020 HC 978-1108826716
Apollo's Arrow:
The Profound and Enduring Impact of Coronavirus on
the Way We Live		 Nicholas A. Christakis MD PhD Little, Brown Spark 1 27 October 2020 HC 978-0316628211
Post Corona:
From Crisis to Opportunity		 Scott Galloway Portfolio 1 24 November 2020 HC 978-0593332214
Fevers, Feuds, and Diamonds:
Ebola and the Ravages of History		 Paul Farmer Farrar, Straus and Giroux 1 17 November 2020 HC 978-0374234324
Between Hope and Fear Michael Kinch Pegasus Books 1 12 November 2019 PB 978-1643132419
On Immunity:
An Inoculation		 Eula Biss Graywolf Press; Reprint edition 2 15 September 2015 PB 978-15559772074
The COVID-19 Catastrophe:
What's Gone Wrong and How to Stop It Happening Again		 Richard Horton Polity 1 13 July 2020 HC 978-1509546459
COVID:
The Politics of Fear and the Power of Science		 Marc Siegel, MD Turner 1 13 October 2020 HC 978-1684426867
COVID-19 and World Order:
The Future of Conflict, Competition, and Cooperation		 Hal Brands & Francis J. Gavin (eds.) Johns Hopkins University Press 1 8 September 2020 PB 978-1421440736
Unreported Truths about COVID-19 and Lockdowns:
Part 1: Introduction and Death Counts and Estimates		 Alex Berenson Bowker 1 4 June 2020 PB 978-1953039019
Pandemic!
COVID-19 Shakes the World		 Slavoj Žižek Polity 1 13 October 2020 HC 978-1509546107
Pandemic 1918
Eyewitness Accounts from the Greatest Medical Holocaust in Modern History		 Catharine Arnold St. Martin's Press 1 28 August 2018 HC 978-1250139436
Spanish Flu Epidemic of 1918:
The Great Influenza Flu of 1918; Flu Epidemic of 1918 that Became a Pandemic, the Story of the Deadliest Pandemic in History		 John Crosby Independently Published 1 25 April 2020 PB 978-8640217025
The Spanish Flu:
History of the Deadliest Plague of 1918. Lessons to Learn and Global Consequences of The Great Influenza. Comparison with the Pandemic of 2020 and How to Prevent New Ones in Future		 Arthur Franklin Independently Published 1 15 June 2020 PB 978-8654156525
The Premonition:
A Pandemic Story		 Michael Lewis W. W. Norton & Company 1 4 May 2021 HC 978-0393881554
Preventing the Next Pandemic:
Vaccine Diplomacy in a Time of Anti-science		 Peter J. Hotez Johns Hopkins University Press 1 2 March 2021 HC 978-1421440385
Nightmare Scenario:
Inside the Trump Administration's Response to the Pandemic That Changed History		 Yasmeen Abutaleb & Damian Paletta Harper 1 9 June 2021 HC 978-0063066052
Leading through a Pandemic:
The Inside Story of Humanity, Innovation, and Lessons Learned During the COVID-19 Crisis		 Michael J. Dowling & Charles Kenney Skyhorse; Illustrated edition 1 25 August 2020 HC 978-1510763845
Preventable:
The Inside Story of How Leadership Failures, Politics, and Selfishness Doomed the U.S. Coronavirus Response		 Andy Slavitt St. Martin's Press 1 15 June 2021 HC 978-1250770165
The COVID-19 Catastrophe:
What's Gone Wrong and How to Stop It Happening Again		 Richard Horton Polity 1 22 June 2020 HC 978-1509546466
Plague, Pestilence and Pandemic:
Voices from History		 Peter Furtado (Editor) Thames & Hudson 1 11 May 2021 PB 978-0500296134
The Vaccine:
Inside the Race to Conquer the COVID-19 Pandemic		 Joe Miller, Özlem Türeci, & Ugur Sahin St. Martin's Press 1 16 November 2021 HC 978-1250280367
American Pandemic:
The Lost Worlds of the 1918 Influenza Epidemic		 Nancy K. Bristow Oxford University Press 1 30 April 2012 HC 978-0199811342
Epidemics:
Hate and Compassion from the Plague of Athens to AIDS		 Samuel K. Cohn Jr. Oxford University Press 1 12 June 2018 HC 978-0198819660
Uncontrolled Spread:
Why COVID-19 Crushed Us and How We Can Defeat the Next Pandemic		 Scott Gottlieb Harper 1 21 September 2021 HC 978-0063080010
Influenza:
The Hundred Year Hunt to Cure the Deadliest Disease in History		 Dr Jeremy Brown Atria Books 1 18 December 2018 HC 978-1501181245
Virus:
Vaccinations, the CDC, and the Hijacking of America's Response to the Pandemic		 Nina Burleigh Seven Stories Press 1 18 May 2021 HC 978-1644211809
Epidemics:
The Impact of Germs and Their Power over Humanity		 Joshua S. Loomis Praeger 1 18 January 2018 HC 978-1440861420
Year of the Nurse:
A 2020 Covid-19 Pandemic Memoir		 Cassandra Alexander Caskara Press 1 18 September 2021 HC 978-1955825177
World War C:
Lessons from the Covid-19 Pandemic and How to Prepare for the Next One		 Sanjay Gupta M.D. & Kristin Loberg Simon & Schuster 1 5 October 2021 HC 978-1982166106
Dead Epidemiologists:
On the Origins of COVID-19		 Rob Wallace Monthly Review Press 1 20 October 2020 PB 978-1583679029
A Shot To Save the World:
The Inside Story of the Life-or-Death Race for a COVID-19 Vaccine		 Gregory Zuckerman Portfolio 1 26 October 2021 HC 978-0593420393
The Plague Cycle:
The Unending War Between Humanity and Infectious Disease		 Charles Kenny Scribner 1 19 January 2021 HC 978-1982165338
Spike:
The Virus vs. The People — the Inside Story		 Jeremy Farrar & Anjana Ahuja Profile Books 1 22 July 2021 HC 978-1788169226
Coronavirus Criminals and Pandemic Profiteers:
Accountability for Those Who Caused the Crisis		 John Nichols Verso 1 25 January 2022 HC 978-1839763779
The Viral Storm:
The Dawn of a New Pandemic Age		 Nathan Wolfe Times Books 1 11 October 2011 HC 978-0805091946
The Emergency:
A Year of Healing and Heartbreak in a Chicago ER		 Thomas Fisher
Ta-Nehisi Coates (Fwd.)		 One World 1 22 March 2022 HC 978-0593230671
The Viral Underclass:
The Human Toll When Inequality and Disease Collide		 Steven W. Thrasher Celadon Books 1 2 August 2022 HC 978-1250796639
Shutdown:
How Covid Shook the World's Economy		 Adam Tooze Viking 1 7 September 2021 HC 978-0593297551
The Making of a Pandemic:
Social, Political, and Psychological Perspectives on Covid-19		 John Ehrenreich Springer 1 31 May 2022 PB 978-3031049637
The Viral Underclass:
The Human Toll When Inequality and Disease Collide		 Steven W. Thrasher Celadon Books 1 2 August 2022 HC 978-1250796639
Plagues and Their Aftermath:
How Societies Recover from Pandemics		 Brian Michael Jenkins Melville House 1 20 September 2022 SC 978-1685890162
Gone Viral:
How Covid Drove the World Insane		 Justin Hart Regnery Publishing 1 18 October 2022 HC 978-1684513512
The Panic Virus:
The True Story Behind the Vaccine-Autism Controversy		 Seth Mnookin Simon & Schuster 1 3 January 2012 PB 978-1439158654
Breathless:
The Scientific Race to Defeat a Deadly Virus		 David Quammen Simon & Schuster 1 4 October 2022 HC 978-1982164362
Lessons from the Covid War:
An Investigative Report		 Covid Crisis Group PublicAffairs 1 25 April 2023 PB 978-1541703803
The Viral Underclass:
The Human Toll When Inequality and Disease Collide		 Steven W. Thrasher Celadon Books 1 2 August 2022 HC 978-1250796639
Foreign Bodies:
Pandemics, Vaccines, and the Health of Nations		 Simon Schama Ecco 1 19 September 2023 HC 978-1328974839
The Deadly Rise of Anti-science:
A Scientist's Warning		 Peter J. Hotez Johns Hopkins University Press 1 19 September 2023 HC 978-1421447223
The Wisdom of Plagues:
Lessons from 25 Years of Covering Pandemics		 Donald G. McNeil Jr. Simon & Schuster 1 13 May 2023 HC 978-1668001394
Covid Chronicles:
An Illustrated Guide to the Silly, Senseless, and Stupid Stuff we did during the Pandemic		 Anthony Faust Independently published 1 9 January 2024 HC 979-8376219416
The Big Fail:
What the Pandemic Revealed About Who America Protects and Who It Leaves Behind		 Joe Nocera & Bethany McLean Portfolio 1 17 October 2023 HC 978-0593331026
Tell Me When It's Over:
An Insider's Guide to Deciphering Covid Myths and Navigating Our Post-Pandemic World		 Paul A. Offitt, MD National Geographic 1 13 February 2024 HC 978-1426223662
The Sky Was Falling:
A Young Surgeon's Story of Bravery, Survival, and Hope		 Dr. Cornelia Griggs Gallery Books 1 12 March 2024 HC 978-1982168483
2020:
One City, Seven People, and the Year Everything Changed		 Eric Klinenberg Knopf 1 13 February 2024 HC 978-0593319482

Films

Title Top Stars Director(s) Run Time Production Co. Year Language(s) Rating IMDB No. IMDB Score
Skeleton on Horseback Hugo Haas, Bedrich Karen, Zdenek Stepánek Hugo Haas 78 min. Moldavia Film 1937 Czech NR tt0066769 7.5
The Andromeda Strain James Olson, Arthur Hill, David Wayne Robert Wise 131 min. Universal Pictures 1971 English G tt0066769 7.2
Variola Vera Rade Serbedzija, Erland Josephson, Dusica Zegarac Goran Markovic 110 min. Art Film 80 1982 Serbo-Croatian NR tt0320482 8.2
12 Monkeys Bruce Willis, Madeleine Stowe, Brad Pitt Terry Gilliam 129 min. Universal Pictures 1995 English R tt0114746 8.0
Outbreak Dustin Hoffman, Rene Russo, Morgan Freeman Wolfgang Peterson 127 min. Warner Brothers 1995 English Korean French R tt0114069 6.6
28 Days Later Cillian Murphy, Naomie Harris, Christopher Eccleston Danny Boyle 113 min. DNA Films 2002 English Spanish R tt0289043 7.6
Resident Evil Milla Jovovich, Michelle Rodriguez, Ryan McCluskey Paul W. S. Anderson 100 min. Constantin Film 2002 English R tt0120804 6.7
Smallpox Brian Cox, Bolen High, Leigh Zimmerman Daniel Percival 120 min. British Broadcasting Corp 2002 English TV-14 tt0320482 7.4
Children of Men Julianne Moore, Clive Owen, Chewetel Ejiofor Alfonso Cuarón 109 min. Universal Pictures 2006 English Spanish + R tt0206634 7.9
28 Weeks Later Jeremy Renner, Rose Byrne, Robert Carlyle Juan Carlos Fresnadillo 100 min. Fox Atomic 2007 English R tt0463854 7.0
I Am Legend Will Smith, Alice Braga, Charlie Tahan Francis Lawrence 101 min. Warner Brothers 2007 English PG-13 tt0480249 7.2
REC Manuela Velasco, Ferran Teraza, Jorge-Yamam Serrano Jaume Balagueró 101 min. Castelao Producciones 2007 Spanish Japanese R tt1038988 7.4
The Crazies Radha Mitchell, Timothy Olyphant, Danielle Panabaker Breck Eisner 101 min. Overture Films 2010 English R tt0455407 6.5
Contagion Matt Damon, Kate Winslet, Jude Law Steven Soderbergh 106 min. Warner Brothers 2011 English Mandarin + PG-13 tt1598778 6.7
World War Z Brad Pitt, Mireille Enos, Daniella Kertesz Marc Forster 116 min. Paramount Pictures 2013 English Spanish + PG-13 tt0816711 7.0
Maze Runner: The Death Cure Dylan O'Brien, Ki Hong Lee, Kaya Scodelario Wes Ball 153 min. Twentieth Century Fox 2018 English PG-13 tt4500922 6.3
Virus Parvathy Thiruvothu, Tovino Thomas, Soubin Shahir Aashiq Abu 152 min. OPM Cinemas 2019 Malayalam NR tt8941440 8.0
In the Same Breath Alex Azar, Bill de Blasio, Anthony Fauci Nanfu Wang 95 min. HBO Documentary Films 2021 English? NR tt13648230 7.7
Last Man Down Daniel Stisen, Olga Kent, Daniel Nehme Fansu Njie ? min. Fansu Film 2021 English R tt12335692 N5R

Sources

  1. Disaster Films: Viral and Deadly Disease Outbreaks (IMDB list by stothardfamily, 2017 — 24 titles)
  2. High-rated/famous/classic films about infectious diseases (IMDB list by by dmitryeichenwald, March 2020 — 47 titles)
  3. Germs on the Big Screen: 11 Infectious Movies (By Jeremy Hsu, 09 September 2011)
  4. Pandemics in Cinema: Ten Great Films Based on Disease Outbreaks (Hasitha Fernando on pandemics in film — 27 March 2020)
  5. The Top 20 Horror Movies About Viruses and Strange Diseases (By Mark H. Harris — Updated 15 July 2018)
  6. 10 Great Virus Movies You Can't Miss (Tina)
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This page was last modified on 20 March 2024.