Aspirin: The Remarkable Story of a Wonder Drug [Hardcover]

‘Blends politics, big business, social and medical history, greed, incredible dedication and human folly in a lively page-turner read’ --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

'Fascinating ... Aspirin appears to be one of the most useful drugs ever discovered. Thanks to the work of all the scientists so deservedly recalled in this books, it is also extremely cheap: in fact no drug is cheaper. Perhaps there is something in the notion of providence after all' Anthony Daniels, Sunday Telegraph 'This biography of aspirin has some cracking factoids' Scotland on Sunday 'An enthralling read ... fascinating ... the author pieces the jigsaw together in thriller style' David O'Donoghue, Sunday Business Post 'He tells a story which blends politics, big business, social and medical history, greed, incredible dedication and human folly in a lively page-turner read' Irish Times --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

‘Fascinating … Aspirin appears to be one of the most useful drugs ever discovered’ --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

‘An enthralling read … the author pieces the jigsaw together in thriller style … compelling’ --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

‘Drama, pathos, plot twists, humour, intrigue and even a handful of scurrilous and despicable characters’ --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Aspirin is effective not only against everyday ailments, but is also useful as a preventative treatment for heart attacks, strokes, and even some types of cancers. Add to that its beneficiary role in a host of other conditions from Alzheimer's to gum disease, and you have a medicine of unparalleled importance to humankind. The story of aspirin is one rich in dramatic twists and surprising discoveries. Diarmuid Jeffreys follows this story from the drug's origins in ancient Egypt, through its industrial development at the end of the nineteenth century and its key role in the great flu pandemic of 1918 that killed more people than World War I, to its subsequent exploitation by the pharmaceutical conglomerates. With a cast of surprising characters - from an American adventurer to an Oxfordshire parson, a forgotten Jewish scientist and an Australian advertising genius - the author reveals how chance and design brought the drug into being at the end of the nineteenth century and how intrigue, greed and ambition combined to make it one of the most commercially successful products of all time.

Diarmuid Jeffreys is a writer, journalist and television producer who has made current affairs and documentary programmes for BBC TV, Channel 4 and others, including Newsnight and The Money Programme. He is also the author of The Bureau: Inside the Modern FBI. He lives with his wife and children near Lewes, East Sussex.