Books like The speckled monster by Jennifer Lee Carrell

During World War II, a foster girl in Nazi Germany steals books to share with neighbors and a hidden Jewish man, proving literature’s power to nourish the soul amid darkness.

A 1930s wartime tale of a blind French girl and a German boy whose lives intersect in occupied France, weaving themes of survival, friendship, and the moral choices people make amid World War II.

Sisters Vianne and Isabelle are pulled into the turmoil of World War II, each forging a path of courage and resistance against the Nazi occupation of France.

The Great Influenza: A World at Risk

An engaging exploration of the 1854 London cholera outbreak and how Dr. John Snow’s mapping of the epidemic transformed public health, urban planning, and the science of disease transmission.

A 1943 British fighter pilot crash-lands in Nazi‑occupied France and recounts her daring escape, espionage, and friendship to a young French woman while concealing her true mission.

Eddie Chapman, a charismatic con‑man turned double agent, seduced, deceived, and ultimately betrayed both Nazi and British intelligence—revealing the fraught loyalties of wartime espionage.

An American college girl in 1947 discovers her belated quest to uncover the fate of her vanished French cousin during WWI, leading her to the shadowy Alice Network where a former spy haunted by betrayal seeks vengeance.

In Victorian London, Sugar, a young prostitute, struggles to climb out of poverty while navigating the harsh social realities of the era.

Three friends and a ring of female spies of WWII uncover a mystery of missing agents, weaving friendship, courage and danger through wartime Manhattan and occupied Europe.

A gripping, nonfiction exposé of America's bioterror defense, from the anthrax attacks to the hunt for a smallpox cure and the race against rogue states.

Roman familial

Autoimmune diseases affect some fifty million Americans, 75 percent of whom are women. In the first-ever book of its kind, Jill P. Buyon, M.D., and women’s-health specialist Rita Baron-Faust teach us what we need to know to identify, understand, and treat what they call “the intimate enemy.”You'll learn:Which tests you might need and how to obtain a correct diagnosis Early signs and symptoms and how to sort out vague and unrelated symptoms Answers to frequently asked questions about fertility and pregnancy How autoimmune disorders and their treatments can affect you at different stages of life Expert advice on getting the latest treatments, finding a specialist, and navigating the health-care system What science and medicine have to offer for treatments, new therapies, and more With The Autoimmune Connection, you’ll be armed with the expertise of two of the field’s most qualified authorities and the latest from the medical specialists at the institutions leading the way in investigating these diseases.“The common threads that connect the autoimmune diseases are woven throughout this important book, enabling readers to obtain a greater understanding of these illnesses individually and collectively. Together with new information contained in this volume about diagnostic and treatment advances, patients (and their families) will be better able to cope with these diseases and . . . get on with their lives.”—From the IntroductionMany people have struggled with various chronic illnesses, going to doctor after doctor and being diagnosed with a wide variety of ailments. But all too often the symptoms remain elusive and don’t lend themselves to a clear diagnosis.These symptoms often point to a set of diseases known as autoimmune disorders. A wide array of conditions, these disorders create a state where the body’s defense system, originally designed to kill germs and disease, attack healthy tissue. The resulting conditions cover a wide range of illnesses, including lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, Crohn’s disease, Graves’ disease, and multiple sclerosis, among many others.Seventy-five percent of autoimmune disease sufferers are women. But although these diseases represent the third largest cause of chronic illness among American women and are among the top ten leading causes of death in American women sixty-five and under, the true nature of these illnesses has long been shrouded in misunderstandings and ignorance on the part of the medical community. Until now.Now there is hope, with The Autoimmune Connection. In this invaluable text, Jill M. Buyon, M.D., and Rita Baron-Faust explain the nature of the various autoimmune disorders. With help from a host of medical experts, they provide vital information in the fight for better health. They explore the genetic predisposition many families have towards these disorders and how early knowledge can facilitate treatment. They also explain the intricacies of the immune system and how they can go awry, as well as going into important detail on the specific kinds of autoimmune disorders.Sources, self-help, special treatment centers, and other important resources are also provided to give support and paths to more efficient treatment. With expert information and compassionate guidance, the authors give you the information to help you take more control of these sometimes-mysterious illnesses and create a life of optimal health.

How did we get to a place where vaccines are viewed with horror rather than as life-saving medicine? The answer is rooted in one of the most powerful and disturbing citizen activist movements in our nation’s history -- a movement that, despite recent epidemics and deaths, continues to grow. Deadly Choices is the story of anti-vaccine activity in America -- its origins, leaders, influences, and impact -- and is a powerful defense of science in the face of fear. - Publisher.

When reclusive novelist Vida Winter’s health wanes, she tasks biographer Margaret Lea with revealing the truth of her life, though Margaret must sift through Winter’s penchant for exaggeration to arrive at facts.

Maurice Hilleman's mother died a day after he was born and his twin sister stillborn. As an adult, he said that he felt he had escaped an appointment with death. He made it his life's work to see that others could do the same. Born into the life of a Montana chicken farmer, Hilleman ran off to the University of Chicago to become a microbiologist, and eventually joined Merck, the pharmaceutical company, to pursue his goal of eliminating childhood disease. Chief among his accomplishments are nine vaccines that practically every child gets, rendering formerly dread diseases—including often devastating ones such as mumps and rubella—practically toothless and nearly forgotten; his measles vaccine alone saves several million lives every year.Vaccinated is not a biography; Hilleman's experience forms the basis for a rich and lively narrative of two hundred years of medical history, ranging across the globe and throughout time to take in a cast of hundreds, all caught up, intentionally or otherwise, in the story of vaccines. It is an inspiring and triumphant tale, but one with a cautionary aspect, as vaccines come under assault from people blaming vaccines for autism and worse. Paul Offit clearly and compellingly rebuts those arguments, and, by demonstrating how much the work of Hilleman and others has gained for humanity, shows us how much we have to lose.

This well researched, painstakingly documented book provides detailed information on the right-wing evangelical organization (Oxford Group Movement) that gave birth to AA; the relation of AA and its program to the Oxford Group Movement; AA's similarities to and differences from religious cults; AA's remarkable ineffectiveness; and the alternatives to AA. The greatly expanded second edition includes a new chapter on AA's relationship to the treatment industry, and AA's remarkable influence in the media.

Mankind's battle to stay alive is the greatest of all subjects. This brief, witty and unusual book by Britain's greatest medical historian compresses into a tiny span a lifetime spent thinking about millennia of human ingenuity in the quest to cheat death. Each chapter sums up one of these battlefields (surgery, doctors, disease, hospitals, laboratories and the human body) in a way that is both frightening and elating. Startlingly illustrated, A SHORT HISTORY OF MEDICINE is the ideal present for anyone who is keenly aware of their own mortality and wants to do something about it. It is also a wonderful memorial to one of Penguin's greatest historians.

Get the straight facts about vaccines and make informed choices Do you wonder whether vaccines are safe and whether they are all really necessary? This completely revised and updated edition of the classic Vaccines: What You Should Know helps you sort through the latest information about vaccines in order to determine what is right for your family. Coauthored by Paul Offit, a member of the CDC advisory committee that determines which vaccines are recommended for use in the United States, this guide tells you what vaccines are made of and clearly explains how they are made, how they work, and the risks associated with them. This updated edition includes recommendations for the smallpox vaccine, the latest information on vaccines for travelers, and the latest on the progress of combination vaccines. Expanded information on vaccine safety includes discussion of vaccines and autism, mercury in vaccines, and the ability of children to tolerate numerous vaccines at once.