Richard Preston Books
Richard Preston is an American author and journalist known for his works on infectious diseases and scientific subjects. A contributor to The New Yorker, he has written several acclaimed nonfiction books that explore the intersection of science, danger, and human courage.
Known for: Crisis in the Red Zone: The Story of the Deadliest Ebola Outbreak in History, and of the Outbreaks to Come, The Cobra Event, The Demon in the Freezer, The Hot Zone: The Terrifying True Story of the Origins of the Ebola Virus, The Wild Trees: A Story of Passion and Daring
Books by Richard Preston
Crisis in the Red Zone: The Story of the Deadliest Ebola Outbreak in History, and of the Outbreaks to Come
A gripping nonfiction account of the 2013–2014 Ebola epidemic in West Africa, detailing the scientific, medical, and human struggle against one of the most lethal viruses known. Richard Preston explor...
The Cobra Event
A bioterrorism thriller that follows a deadly outbreak of a genetically engineered virus in New York City. The story blends scientific realism with suspense as government scientists and intelligence a...
The Demon in the Freezer
The Demon in the Freezer is a nonfiction work by Richard Preston that explores the history and potential dangers of smallpox and anthrax as biological weapons. The book recounts the eradication of sma...
The Hot Zone: The Terrifying True Story of the Origins of the Ebola Virus
The Hot Zone is a nonfiction thriller that recounts the origins and incidents involving viral hemorrhagic fevers, particularly Ebola and Marburg. Based on real events, it follows scientists, soldiers,...
The Wild Trees: A Story of Passion and Daring
The Wild Trees recounts the true story of a small group of botanists and adventurers who explore the hidden world of California’s coastal redwood forests. Led by Steve Sillett and Marie Antoine, these...
Key Insights from Richard Preston
From the Forest to the City: Origins and Early Missteps
Ebola has always lurked in the shadows of the rainforest, existing in a mysterious equilibrium with its host species, likely fruit bats. In December 2013, in the small Guinean village of Meliandou, a two-year-old boy named Emile Ouamouno fell ill with fever and vomiting. His death, unnoticed beyond ...
From Crisis in the Red Zone: The Story of the Deadliest Ebola Outbreak in History, and of the Outbreaks to Come
Crossing Borders: The Viral Firestorm
When Ebola surged into Sierra Leone and Liberia, it found weak public health systems and porous borders that offered no resistance. Clinics lacked gloves, masks, and even running water. The ill arrived in droves, collapsing outside hospital gates. The healthcare system itself became an amplifier of ...
From Crisis in the Red Zone: The Story of the Deadliest Ebola Outbreak in History, and of the Outbreaks to Come
A Sudden Death in New York: The Spark of the Outbreak
The Cobra Event opens on a seemingly ordinary morning in New York City, but as the day unfolds, a horrifying scene takes shape. A young woman, Kate Moran, collapses in her classroom, suffering seizures that defy any conventional medical explanation. The description of her illness is excruciatingly p...
From The Cobra Event
Tracing the Cobra: Discovery of a Man-Made Virus
When the CDC team confirms that the pathogen is engineered, the story pivots from medicine to geopolitics. Suddenly what was once a horror of biology becomes a crime—a deliberate act of creation. Austen and her colleagues uncover similar cases across the city, linking them to a mysterious novel stra...
From The Cobra Event
The Road to Eradication: Humanity’s Greatest Victory Over a Microbe
When smallpox was declared eradicated, it was the first—and remains the only—human disease wiped from nature by deliberate human effort. The World Health Organization’s campaign spanned continents and decades, fueled by field workers and scientists who chased the virus to its remotest strongholds. I...
From The Demon in the Freezer
The Freezers at the Edge: Science, Secrecy, and the Fate of Variola
After smallpox’s eradication, the remaining virus samples were consolidated into two high-security laboratories: the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta and the State Research Center of Virology and Biotechnology in Koltsovo, Russia. These facilities were designed to be imper...
From The Demon in the Freezer
About Richard Preston
Richard Preston is an American author and journalist known for his works on infectious diseases and scientific subjects. A contributor to The New Yorker, he has written several acclaimed nonfiction books that explore the intersection of science, danger, and human courage.
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Richard Preston is an American author and journalist known for his works on infectious diseases and scientific subjects. A contributor to The New Yorker, he has written several acclaimed nonfiction books that explore the intersection of science, danger, and human courage.
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