Editor Seaman (dean, social sciences & humanities, Olympic Coll.) effectively explains the complex relationship between war and disease in this collection of 18 fascinating, well-written essays. The contributors, mostly historians, examine "the plague" as a universal term for sickness (as in Roman times) as well as individual diseases such as typhus, cholera, and dysentery. The regions, time periods, and wars covered vary, from conflicts in ancient Athens and Sparta to the Bosnian War. Researchers will find the extensive bibliography and the notes appended to each piece particularly helpful. Similar titles include M.R. Smallman-Raynor and A.D. Cliff's War Epidemics, which focuses on modern epidemics and war from a geographical perspective. VERDICT Recommended to undergraduate researchers with an interest in the subject.—Todd Spires, Bradley Univ. Lib., Peoria, IL