The Mosquito: A Human History Of Our Deadliest Predator

"At once a deep dive and a view from 30,000 feet. Timothy C. Winegard traces the history of civilization (Western, largely) through the lens of that most hated scourge of cocktail hour on your back deck. In friendly, discursive prose, he walks you through the many ways that the mosquito – more specifically, the diseases she carries – has turned the tide in major wars and has overthrown governments. When you learn, for example, that these miserable little bloodsuckers are responsible for the deaths of half the humans who have ever lived on the planet, it will lend a distinct tang of righteous retribution to the next time you manage to splat one before it’s done feasting on your ankle."