Dangerous Miracle

Excellent - a highly readable account of scientific success in the past and Big Pharma’s egregious inability to deal with the growing problem of antibiotic resistance – Henry Marsh, author of Do No HarmEveryone needs to know about antibiotics- the good the bad and the ugly! This is a brilliant history lesson – Tim Spector, author of Food for LifeAn enjoyable and absolutely essential read. The next global pandemic might not be a virus at all – it could be a drug-resistant bacterium, as antibiotics stop working and common infections turn deadly. As Shaw passionately argues in this compelling history, we urgently need a new approach – Kate Bingham, author of The Long ShotIn Dangerous Miracle, Liam Shaw traces the rise of modern antibiotics, and foresees their decline amidst the ongoing war between bacteria and antibiotic drugs. The central theme is critically important, but Shaw’s book is also tremendously entertaining as he describes the origins and development of many of the ‘greatest hit’ antibiotics that together have saved millions of lives. Well worth reading – Adam Alter, author of Anatomy of a Breakthrough

Liam Shaw is a biologist researching the evolution and spread of antibiotic resistance. For the past four years he has been a Wellcome funded research fellow at the University of Oxford, and he is also currently an honorary research fellow at the University of Bristol. His writing has appeared in the London Review of Books, Morning Star, and Private Eye. Dangerous Miracle is his first book.