Cancer by Dr. Siddhartha Mukhopadhyay [Hardcover]

"This book is truly a 'biography'—the biography of cancer. It attempts to uncover the 'mind' of this invincible disease, to understand its personality, and to unravel all the mysteries surrounding its behavior. Around 500 BCE, the Queen of Persia, Atossa, had a breast tumor removed by her Greek slave. From there, the journey progresses to modern genetics. The author, Siddhartha Mukherjee, describes the important milestones of this long journey, one by one. With the precision of a cell biologist, the perspective of a historian, and the passion of a biographer, he paints a vivid picture. In a sense, this is a military history—where the enemy has no specific form, no timeline, it is pervasive everywhere. Against this, for generations, men and women have continuously expressed their courage, imagination, innovation, and hope. In drawing out its essence, this book delves deep—not only into the depths of science and medicine, but also into culture, history, literature, and politics—into the past and future of cancer. The story of this royal disease unfolds on a vast canvas. This book was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in 2011."