"Is this the promised end?"
"Or image of that horror?
These lines from King Lear capture something of the sense of apocalypse that engulfed the gay community in America as the AIDS epidemic ravaged its ranks in the 1980s, even as it seemed that America, from the President to the man in the street, simply did not give a damn. Twenty years after its initial publication, Randy Shilts' account of the first decade of the epidemic remains the best we have-- no other writer has brought to bear on the subject such a combination of scrupulous scholarship and pure outrage, which render vivid both that era of desperation and the shame that will forever stain it in the pages of history.
Upon its first publication more than twenty years ago, And the Band Played on was quickly recognized as a masterpiece of investigative reporting.
An international bestseller, a nominee for the National Book Critics Circle Award, and made into a critically acclaimed movie, Shilts' expose revealed why AIDS was allowed to spread unchecked during the early 80's while the most trusted institutions ignored or denied the threat. One of the few true modern classics, it changed and framed how AIDS was discussed in the following years. Now republished in a special 20th Anniversary edition, And the Band Played On remains one of the essential books of our time.
“Shilts successfully weaves comprehensive investigative reporting and commercial page-turning pacing, political intrigue, and personal tragedy into a landmark book . . . Its importance cannot be overstated.” —Publishers Weekly
“A monumental history.” —The Washington Post Book World
“The most thorough, comprehensive exploration of the AIDS epidemic to date . . . It is fascinating, frightening, and essential reading.” —San Francisco Sentinel
“Rivals in power and intensity, and in the brilliance of its reporting and writing, Truman Capote's In Cold Blood.” —The Boston Globe
“A heroic work of journalism.” —The New York Times