Structure

Deadliest Enemy: Our War against Killer Germs is a non-fiction book co-authored by Michael T. Osterholm, PhD, MPH, and Mark Olshaker. It is written in straight-forward, narrative prose that combines a mix of personal experience, scientific data, anecdote, predictions for the future, and recommendations in order to send a message about the threat of infectious disease in the modern world and what can be done about it.

Deadliest Enemy is divided into 21 chapters, with an introduction beforehand, and acknowledgements, an index, and “About the Authors” at the end. In the Introduction, Osterholm speaks to the reader in first person, leaving out Olshaker until later in the book. Osterholm introduces himself and the field of infectious disease research. In later chapters, Osterholm presents specific case studies in later chapters to expand upon the ideas he presents in the initial overview. Some chapters, like Chapter 1, focus on one specific...