The first scholarly history of food poisoning, telling of the discovery of food poisoning as a public health problem in the 1880s, of the discovery of pathways of infection and of the Salmonella family, and of the realisation that these organisms are deeply embedded in human and animal food chains and the subsequent importance of food hygiene. Anne Hardy provides a unique overview of Salmonella's rise as a modern health hazard and of the concomitant development of microbiology, epidemiology and public health ... Hardy provides a lucid tour de force through the history of Salmonella, microbiology, public health and food production. Her book's structure works very well in fusing these diverse histories into an insightful narrative. Readers are given a fascinating and important introduction not only to the world of Salmonella but also to the laboratories which illuminated this world.