The authors show that the complex warfare of invasion and extinction observed by Darwin on the Galapagos for plants and animals applies today with equal force to the micro-organisms which lie behind many human diseases. A constant theme is the change in accessibility of remote islands.

Ever since Charles Darwin landed on the Galápagos islands in September 1835, small islands have had a special place in scientific history. In Island Epidemics, the authors show that the complex warfare of invasion and extinction observed by Darwin for plants and animals applies with equal force to human diseases. A world picture is presented of diseases, which range from the familiar (influenza and German measles) to the exotic (kuru and tsutsugamushi), and islands which range in remoteness from the accessible United Kingdom to the inaccessible Tristan da Cunha and Easter Island. A theme of the book is the way in which technical developments over the last 150 years, notably in vaccination and transport, have affected the ways in which waves of epidemic diseases circle around the globe.

This book is both timely and welcome. It provides a careful synthesis that interweaves materials from a number of disciplines(medical history, epidemiology, statistics and geography) into a coherent and forceful argument for the pursuit of research into the indiosyncrasies of island epidemics.