**The instant New York Times bestseller** *An international bestseller* "Hugely impressive a
major work."-NPR A pioneering and groundbreaking work of narrative nonfiction that offers a
dramatic new perspective on the history of humankind showing how through millennia the
mosquito has been the single most powerful force in determining humanity's fate. Why was gin
and tonic the cocktail of choice for British colonists in India and Africa? What does Starbucks
have to thank for its global domination? What has protected the lives of popes for millennia?
Why did Scotland surrender its sovereignty to England? What was George Washington's secret
weapon during the American Revolution? The answer to all these questions and many more is
the mosquito. Across our planet since the dawn of humankind this nefarious pest roughly
the size and weight of a grape seed has been at the frontlines of history as the grim reaper
the harvester of human populations and the ultimate agent of historical change. As the
mosquito transformed the landscapes of civilization humans were unwittingly required to
respond to its piercing impact and universal projection of power. The mosquito has
determined the fates of empires and nations razed and crippled economies and decided the
outcome of pivotal wars killing nearly half of humanity along the way. She (only females bite)
has dispatched an estimated 52 billion people from a total of 108 billion throughout our
relatively brief existence. As the greatest purveyor of extermination we have ever known she
has played a greater role in shaping our human story than any other living thing with which we
share our global village. Imagine for a moment a world without deadly mosquitoes or any
mosquitoes for that matter? Our history and the world we know or think we know would be
completely unrecognizable. Driven by surprising insights and fast-paced storytelling The
Mosquito is the extraordinary untold story of the mosquito's reign through human history and
her indelible impact on our modern world order.
