“A unique historical perspective on how the field of immunology developed, told in short stories that will both educate and entertain and which can be read and understood by all. A captivating read”
——Paul Murray, Professor of Molecular Pathology, Institute of Immunology and Immunotherapy, University of Birmingham

“This book should be in every university library”
——Neville Punchard, Professor Emeritus in Molecular Biosciences, University of East London

★Excellent Work by Shantha Perera, senior Lecturer in Immunology at the School of Medicine, University of Wolverhampton!
★Shantha Perera has taught immunology to undergraduate and postgraduate students for over 25 years and is the principal author of Integrated Medical Sciences: The Essentials, Wiley 2007!
★The book explores the discovery history of the immune system through stories of infectious diseases from ancient times to the present day.

In December 2019 a new virus emerged, one that caused a global pandemic. Millions were infected. In the recesses of their fragile bodies a battle raged: between the immune system and the virus. But what is the immune system? What are its components? How do they work?
One way to understand this system, arguably the most complicated in human physiology, is by walking on the footprints of history: one observation and experiment at a time, beginning with the first written record of the concept of immunity in 430 BCE, through the ensuing centuries that gave the world vaccines, organ transplantation, novel therapies for cancer and now the understanding and tools to tackle the pandemic virus.

An entertaining and informative popular history, At the Edge of Mysteries introduces the reader to a compelling cast of characters, from Edward Jenner and Louis Pasteur to the Nobel laureates of the modern day. This book glimpses into their lives and times, seeking clues to their genius, their yearning for discovery, and asks the question of what can be learned from the past in the age of global pandemics.

Shantha Perera is a Senior Lecturer in Immunology at the School of Medicine, University of Wolverhampton, UK. He has taught immunology to undergraduate and postgraduate students for over 25 years and is the principal author of Integrated Medical Sciences: The Essentials, Wiley 2007.

About This Book
Introduction: The Double-Edged Sword
Part One: Beginnings
1. The Speckled Monster
2. The Gift of the Ottomans
3. The Temple of Vaccinia
4. The Prepared Mind
5. The Country Doctor
6. The Challenge
7. The Bite of Death
8.The Great White Plague
9. The Rose Thorn and the Starfish
10. The Strangling Angel
11. The Chemist
12. The Deadly Kiss of the Antibody
13. Lethal Assistants
14. The Dream of Dr William Coley
15. The Blood of Strangers
16. Friendly Fire: Autoimmunity
17. Inappropriate Responses Summary: The End of the Beginning
Part Two: The Golden Age
18. The Thinking Radish
19. The Gift
20. The Mysterious Lymphocyte
21. The Boy in the Bubble
22. The Strange Organs of Birds and Mice
23. The Cell Whisperers
24. The Long Shadow of Charles Darwin
25. The Y-shaped Bullet: Unravelling the Structure and Diversity of the Antibody
26. The Immortal Cell
27. The Genes of Immunity
28. The Conductor of the Orchestra
29. The Beautiful Cell
Summary: Metchnikoff’s Finger
Part Three: Pandemic 2020: The Lessons from the Past
30. Back to 1890
31. The Race
32. Life, Death and the Immune System
Acknowledgements
Endnotes
Index