They were here long before us. But the advent of human beings, with our complex culture, our domestication of animals, our huddling together into towns and cities, our wars and well-plied trade routes, have given some microbes whole new opportunities and lifestyles which for us have proved deadly. The results have included malaria, bubonic plague, AIDs, and bird flu. The diseases spread by microbes have decimated populations and profoundly shaped human history, while our behaviour has in turn altered theirs. Book jacket.