"A heroic work of journalism on what must rank as one of the foremost catastrophes of modern history."—The New York Times
"Stunning . . . An impressively researched and richly detailed narrative."—Time
"Rivals in power and intensity, and in the brilliance of its reporting and writing, Truman Capote's In Cold Blood."—The Boston Globe
"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
"A textbook on how institutions work—or fail to work—in the face of such a threat."—San Francisco Examiner
"A lucid and stunning indictment of public policy toward the vicious disease . . . A valuable work of political history."—Business Week
"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 popular history of the early years of the AIDS crisis, the book conveys in detail the political complexities—and many different human dimensions—of the story. Reading Shilts, you wonder who will die next. You worry whether this terrible disease can ever be controlled. And you begin to feel anger at what Shilts portrays as the federal government's dithering . . . Shilts has produced the best—and what will likely be the most controversial—book yet on AIDS. Though many of the details in the book are familiar to veteran reporters, Shilts does not shy away from naming names and casting blame. He writes with passionate conviction, which is one of the book's strengths—and also, of course, a sound reason for some skepticism."—Jim Miller, Newsweek
"Shilts, a reporter for the San Francisco Chronicle who has covered AIDS full-time since 1983, takes us almost day by day through the first five years of the unfolding epidemic and the responses—confusion and fear, denial and lindifference, courage and determination. It is at once a history and a passionate indictment."—H. Jack Geiger, The New York Times Book Review
