And the Band Played On: Politics, People, and the AIDS Epidemic
£11.30£12.30 (-8%)
An international bestseller and winner of the Stonewall Book Award, which inspired an award-winning film
‘A heroic work of journalism on what must rank as one of the foremost catastrophes of modern history.’
The New York Times
‘Stunning … An impressively researched and richly detailed narrative.’ TIME
Randy Shilts was the first openly gay journalist dealing with gay issues for the San Francisco Chronicle. In 1981, the year when AIDS came to international attention, he quickly devoted himself to reporting on the developing epidemic, one which devastated his community and eventually took his life as well.
Shilts interviewed over 1,000 people, weaving together extensive research in the form of personal stories and political reportage. He was perfectly placed to understand the cultural, medical and political impact of the disease on the gay community and United States society as a whole.
And the Band Played On exposes why AIDS was allowed to spread while the medical and political authorities ignored and even denied the threat. This book remains one of the great works of contemporary journalism and provides the foundation for continuing debates over governmental failure in handling lethal epidemics.
Read more
Additional information
| Publisher | Main – Classic edition (15 April 2021), Serpent's Tail |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Paperback | 656 pages |
| ISBN-10 | 1788167732 |
| ISBN-13 | 978-1788167734 |
| Dimensions | 12.9 x 3.9 x 19.8 cm |
by c bakewell
This is not a book for those who need an Introduction to the Aids epidemic. At 600 pages, I found myself quite overwhelmed particularly as I’m not from the States – their policies and politics are so new to me.
However, the author does look at all those involved without favour ( as a Gay man with HIV, he doesn’t pretend that such a sizeable USA group were sensible particularly when there was such little understanding and help)
Readers should note that Gaeten Dugas was also a victim and not necessarily the first person to infect as many people as first thought. Mr Shilts was dead shortly after publication so he could not amend his theory
by Kids Book Fan
This was a good book, carefully composed, and easy to read. It shines a light on the political, financial, and needless delay in a concise approach to treatment.
I wish the book had covered Anthony Fauci and his major role in the medical corruption why AIDS was allowed to flourish, in favour of Big Pharma agendas.
I’d recommend this book. I’d also recommend The Real Anthony Fauci by Robert F Kenndy Jr as a follow up.
by Janjo
“And The Band Played On” is a book I missed when it first came out over twenty years ago. I read Randy Shilts “The Mayor of Castro Street” after having become intrigued by the life of “Harvey Milk” since seeing the excellent Sean Penn film “Milk” at the beginning of the year, and I was anxious to read anything else that he had written.
“And The Band Played On,” is a reference to the musicians on the Titanic, who reputedly kept playing as the ship sank.
The book details how this was exactly the way the authorities behaved while people in their thousands were dying from AIDS.
This new disease, which in its early stages, was unknown to science, devastated the lives of not just the sufferers, but also of those that loved them.
As it was mostly gay men, and intravenous drug users who were affected,(not REAL people, not people who mattered), little money was found for research, and the scientists involved had to make do and mend, in the most outrageous way.
The whole subject was considered embarrasing, one not to be talked about, and still people were dying. Some members of the gay community were reluctant to face up to the fact that their behavior in “bath houses,” the taking of multiple sexual partners, had anything to do with the spread of the disease, and saw any restrictions placed upon them as a breach of their human rights.
Still people were dying.
Then the scientists started to play politics with the research, the French at the Pasteur Institute who discovered the virus, were disbelieved until Dr Robert Gallo could confirm their work in the US.
A year was wasted, and still people were dying.
The virus contaminated the blood supply.
Still there was denial.
Haemophiliacs were dying, patients were contracting AIDS from operative transfusions.
Still the wrangling went on.
For money, for kudos, for sexual freedom, for the hope of a Nobel Prize.
And all the while, people died.
Now, particularly in Africa, people are dying in their millions, this particular genie can never be put back into the bottle.
The band played on……………..
by Fyffee1984
And I found a lot of interesting comparisons. Deniers, those who follow the rules, those who are more interested in politics and “human rights” than public health. This is a good but frustrating and heart breaking read. There are a lot of decent people in the pages of this book who are thwarted by politics and intrigue. A lot like our current pandemic the AIDS crisis brought out the best in some, the worst in others.
I would recommend this to anyone who is wondering where this current pandemic will end, if it feels like a hopeless situation then the progresses made in the treatments of AIDS may help out this current situation into perspective. If, like me, you have always had a fear of AIDS due to the impressive as campaigns of the late 80s then this may help. Ignorance leads to fear.
If you do read this book you will be angry: the blood banks, the ignorant governments, the self serving sex club owners putting profit above public safety, the petty rivalries and intrigues getting in the way of scientific progress. Oh, wait infinity see how the French got screwed over…
by Iwantoneofthose
As a teenager in the 80s I knew very little of what was truly going on .. this was a difficult read at times but equally engaging, informative and emotional; turning the last page I cried. A can’t recommend it enough
by Amazon Customer
I am half-way through this book; and I am just thinking; what a story, what a book, incredible. This book, this story NEEDS to be read and re-read by any generation in the future. This horrific history captured in these beautiful written and powerful words drills down to the core of what we are as humans and lays bare our humanity, our vulnerabilities, our vanities, our power and our weakness as individuals, as a society, and as humanity at large, not only in the context of this catastrophe. The narrative of the book follows the history of the outbreak on a day-by-day basis, articulating the many simultaneous story lines in science, politics, patients, press and people and so slowly lifting the lid of this story.
When I opened the book I was taken back by the small and not very nice font, but once reading I do not notice it. Perhaps start to even like it.
by James Beddall
I remember the AIDS crisis emerging, so I was particularly interested in this account. The lack of involvement by the US government during the Regan years was a complete disgrace.
by Amazon Customer
Having been cursed with the attention span of a newt, l doubted l could make my way through such a lengthy tome. I was wrong.
This book is not written, it is composed like the most beautiful symphony. The perfect mix of micro personal stories and macro national politics.
A truly beautiful piece of work. I genuinely cannot recommend it enough.