And the Band Played On: Politics, People, and the AIDS Epidemic, 20th Anniversary Edition

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Overview


Upon it's first publication twenty years ago, And The Band Played on was quickly recognized as a masterpiece of investigatve reporting. An international bestseller, a nominee for the National Book Critics Circle Award, and made into a critically acclaimed movie, Shilts' expose revealed why AIDS was allowed to spread unchecked during the early 80's while the most trusted institutions ignored or denied the threat. One of the few true modern classics, it changed and framed how AIDS was discussed in the following ...
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And the Band Played On: Politics, People, and the AIDS Epidemic, 20th Anniversary Edition

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More About This Book

Overview


Upon it's first publication twenty years ago, And The Band Played on was quickly recognized as a masterpiece of investigatve reporting. An international bestseller, a nominee for the National Book Critics Circle Award, and made into a critically acclaimed movie, Shilts' expose revealed why AIDS was allowed to spread unchecked during the early 80's while the most trusted institutions ignored or denied the threat. One of the few true modern classics, it changed and framed how AIDS was discussed in the following years. Now republished in a special 20th Anniversary edition, And the Band Played On remains one of the essential books of our time.

This "heroic work of journalism" (New York Times) reveals how the federal govrenment put budget considerations ahead of the nation's welfare.

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Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

"Shilts successfully weaves comprehensive investigative reporting and commercial page-turning pacing, political intrigue, and personal tragedy into a landmark book . . . Its importance cannot be overstated." -Publishers Weekly "A monumental history." -The Washington Post Book World

"The most thorough, comprehensive exploration of the AIDS epidemic to date . . . It is fascinating, frightening, and essential reading." -San Francisco Sentinel "Rivals in power and intensity, and in the brilliance of its reporting and writing, Truman Capote's In Cold Blood." --The Boston Globe "A heroic work of journalism." --The New York Times

Library Journal
SOC SCI This shocking and illuminating account by the best-selling author of Conduct Unbecoming: Gays and Lesbians in the U.S. Military (Audio Reviews, LJ 8/93) remains one of the most important books of the last two decades. Beginning with the alleged ``pa tient zero''--a French Canadian flight at tendant whose coast-to-coast liaisons were pivotal in spreading the AIDS virus throughout the United States--Shilts documents the epidemic's first onslaught, as well as the attendant reactions (or nonreactions) by the media, national health organizations, mainstream America, and the gay community. Although the audiobook was originally released in 1988, a recent HBO original movie based on the book and the success of Conduct Unbecoming should revive interest in it. Actor Willem Dafoe narrates with calm assurance, and Shilts reads a new afterword in which he points out that the band continues to play. Until an unabridged version is available, all libraries should have a copy of this seminal work.-- Mark Annichiarico, ``Library Journal''
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Product Details

  • ISBN-13: 9780312374631
  • Publisher: St. Martin's Press
  • Publication date: 11/27/2007
  • Edition description: Second Edition, Revised Edition
  • Edition number: 2
  • Pages: 656
  • Sales rank: 103,538
  • Product dimensions: 5.48 (w) x 8.22 (h) x 1.83 (d)

Meet the Author


RANDY SHILTS was one of the first journalists to recognize AIDS as an important national issue and, in the early 1980s, he began to report on AIDS full time for the San Francisco Chronicle, making him the only journalist to do so. He was also the author of The Mayor of Castro Street: The Life and Times of Harvey Milk and Conduct Unbecoming: Gay and Lesbians in the U.S. Military. Shilts died of AIDS-related complications in early 1994.
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Table of Contents


Acknowledgments Dramatis Personae The Bureaucracy Prologue Part I. Behold, A Pale Horse
1. The Feast of the Hearts Part II. Before/1980
2. Glory Days
3. Beaches of the Dispossessed
4. Foreshadowing
5. Freeze Frames Part III. Paving the Road/1981
6. Critical Mass
7. Good Intentions
8. The Prettiest One
9. Ambush Poppers
10. Golf Courses of Science
11. Bad Moon Rising Part IV. The Gathering Darkness/1982
12. Enemy Time
13. Patient Zero
14. Bicentennial Memories
15. Nightsweats
16. Too Much Blood
17. Entropy
18. Running on Empty
19. Forced Feeding
20. Dirty Secrets
21. Dancing in the Dark Part V. Battle Lines/January—June 1983
22. Let It Bleed
23. Midnight Confessions
24. Denial
25. Anger
26. The Big Enchilada
27. Turning Points
28. Only the Good
29. Priorities
30. Meanwhile
31. AIDSpeak Spoken Here
32. Star Quality Part VI. Rituals/July—December 1983
33. Marathons
34. Just Another Day
35. Politics
36. Science
37. Public Health
38. Journalism
39. People Part VII. Lights & Tunnels/1984
40. Prisoners
41. Bargaining
42. The Feast of the Hearts, Part II
43. Squeeze Play
44. Traitors
45. Political Science
46. Downbound Train
47. Republicans and Democrats
48. Embarrassed
49. Depression
50. The War Part VIII. The Butcher's Bill/1985
51. Heterosexuals
52. Exiles
53. Reckoning
54. Exposed
55. Awakening
56. Acceptance
57. Endgame Part IX. Epilogue/After
58. Reunion
59. The Feast of the Hearts, Part III Notes on Sources Index
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Customer Reviews

Average Rating 4.5
( 31 )
Rating Distribution

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(25)

4 Star

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See All Sort by: Showing 1 – 20 of 31 Customer Reviews

  • Posted November 11, 2009

    Hard to read, IMPOSSIBLE to put down.

    While I learned more about a the gay lifestyle than I really wanted to know, this taut, fascinating account of the AIDS crisis kept me rapt from start to finish. The author's journalistic skills serve him very well as he traces the chronology of the epidemic through a group of friends and their personal involvement in the crisis, intertwined with the medical and political entities attempting to identify the problem. As the author clearly shows, political conflicts within the gay and medical communities, as well as the denial and inertia of government, resulted in delaying solutions to stem the spread of the virus. Great read.

    2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

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  • Posted December 7, 2008

    more from this reviewer

    Make this Book Required Reading

    Absolutley brilliant chronicling of the first decade of the HIV/AIDS crisis. Demonstrates in no uncertain terms how our society missed the boat by letting early opportunities to curb the spread of HIV. Fascinating look at the social and governmental response, both in the U.S. and around the world.

    2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted July 16, 2010

    I Also Recommend:

    Conduct Unbecoming: Gays and Lesbians in the U. S. Military
    The Mayor of Castro Street: The Life and Times of Harvey Milk

    One of the most amazing and educational books I have ever read .

    This is the first book I read by Randy Shilts, but upon completion I immediately read the rest of his books. Randy Shilts is an incredible artist who used his talents to bring to the world the staggering and horrific truth about the AIDS epidemic. While this book focuses on the devastating effect that aids had on the gay and lesbian community, it is a book that is newsworthy even today and relevant for all readers. For people seeking to learn more about the homosexual community, many leaders of the gay community who were lost, leaving the community for decades without leadership, appear in this book. Those people include Cleve Jones to Bill Krause to Larry Kramer. This book contains the most trustworthy accounts of a historic time than any novel I know, which was sourced using journalistic methods. In writing this book, Randy Shilts not only wrote himself into literary history, he became a hero of the gay community.

    1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted March 21, 2013

    A must read

    An incredible look back at a frightening and frustrating time. Check out the documentary "How to Survive a Plague" - inspiring.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted November 5, 2012

    Facinating Read

    Easy to read and very detailed. A must read for anyone who works in the healthcare industry.

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  • Posted September 8, 2012

    Best book ever. I read it years ago and it has stuck with me.

    Best book ever. I read it years ago and it has stuck with me.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted September 5, 2009

    Engrossing

    This book is very detailed in its review of the politics and the environment of the
    early 1980's when the first case of AIDS was diagnosed. The politics of that time
    between the CDC, NIH, the state and federal government, and the gay community
    are fascinating and very scary. However, reading this book, one can draw
    comparable scenarios in the health care environment that continue to this day.

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  • Posted April 14, 2009

    Never Wanted to Read It...But WOW!

    Boy was I impressed. This epic chronology of the AIDS epidemic covers it all. How air travel helped spread AIDS from coast to coast among gay men in America. How sexual practices in vogue left U.S. gay males vulnerable. The role of Africa. The politics, homophobia, and institutional inaction. The impact of Rock Hudson. The differences in how New York City and San Francisco responded. The exponential spread of the epidemic. How gays started fighting back. The chilling delays for action in the blood bank industry. The rush to isolate the cause, which started petty turf wars between universities, science institutes, and between the U.S. and France. The battle for funds which were always too little too late. Details we either never knew or completely forgot about how this all unfolded.
    Some of the heroes are the scientists and doctors; some of the villains are the bureaucrats of the Reagan administration and of the state and local governments. As with his other books, there is plenty of blame and bravery to go around.
    Shilts was a journalist with a great technique for writing page-turner history. Even with all of our hindsight, it keeps us curious about who knew what when. Turns out I could barely put it down.
    Highly recommended as a modern history of our time for all adults who witnessed it or who were born later. A fantastic cast of real characters whose lives forever changed as did ours. Covers mostly 1976 to 1986.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted July 19, 2003

    Fantastic!

    The bible!. Randy covers the first six years of the epidemic in extreme detail as it actually happend.My kind of book.He exaustively cronicles each event in every location.I had a very difficult time putting it down.It is a great loss that he is no longer with us.I deffinately recomend this book to anyone who's interested in this hightly controversial time in our history.Clearly the greatest plague in modern history.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted February 14, 2003

    an eye-opener

    First off, I must confess that I have not yet read the book but I have seen the HBO movie and understand it is very true to the book. If this is true, I am aprehensive to read it. This story about the epidemic of the AIDS virus has truly opened my eyes. The two things that made me the most fustrated was the Regan administration and the additude of Dr. Robert Gallo, who's goals seemed to lean more towards getting the credit for finding this disease than it should have about the cause of it and how it can be prevented. Also the bloodbank's unwillingness to scan blood for this disease which also contributed largely to the death toll. I cannot wait to read the book and I'm sure it will be amazing.

    0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted September 6, 2002

    A wake up call for my generation

    This book was amazing, frightening and liberating. A true wake up call for me and countless others on what actually happened in the beginning of AIDS. For those of us too young to remember the beginning of AIDS, this book shows us the importance of respect, humanity and fighting for the cause. I have read it and then read it again and I keep turning each page like it is my first time. Randy Shilts showed the struggle people went through just to live through this, all the time knowing they wouldnt. He also shows how people were so fearful of anything associated with the word gay, they let innocent people die. I would recommend this book to anyone who wants the truth and wants to be profoundly moved.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted April 24, 2002

    Absolutely amazing

    this book is an essential read for anyone interested in any facet of the AIDS epidemic. it covers the disease medically, politically, and gives personal accounts of the bravery of its victims. highly recomended.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted October 16, 2000

    Fabulous Histor regarding the AIDS epidemic

    This is a great book for anyone that wants to read about AIDS, how it was found, and what society did and did not do to cure the pandemic. The author chronicles the lives of AIDS patients, doctors, CDC staff members, and government offials and their roles in dealing with this 'Gay disease.' It is very factual and gives accounts of the numbers diagnosed, and dying with the disease as the years progressed from its first diagnoses onward.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted September 1, 2000

    Such an Important Book!!!

    If I could give it more than five I would. It is seriously the most detailed history of any time in place I have ever read. It is not only rich with information, but very touching and eye-opening. Learn about how stupid people can be and how politics killed thousands, no millions, unnessacarily. Also learn how endearing humans are and how a community came together which is no meager glory. ~Scarlett~

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    Posted September 21, 2011

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    Posted June 3, 2011

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    Posted April 17, 2011

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    Posted August 11, 2010

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    Posted March 13, 2011

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    Posted June 16, 2011

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