And the Band Played on: Politics, People, And the AIDS Epidemic

by Shilts, Randy

• ISBN13: 9780312009946
• ISBN10: 0312009941
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 1987-11-01
• Publisher: St Martins Pr

Summary

By the time Rock Hudson's death in 1985 alerted all America to the danger of the AIDS epidemic, the disease had spread across the nation, killing thousands of people and emerging as the greatest health crisis of the 20th century. America faced a troubling question: What happened? How was this epidemic allowed to spread so far before it was taken seriously? In answering these questions, Shilts weaves weaves the disparate threads into a coherent story, pinning down every evasion and contradiction at the highest levels of the medical, political, and media establishments. Shilts shows that the epidemic spread wildly because the federal government put budget ahead of the nation's welfare; health authorities placed political expediency before the public health; and scientists were often more concerned with international prestige than saving lives. Against this backdrop, Shilts tells the heroic stories of individuals in science and politics, public health and the gay community, who struggled to alert the nation to the enormity of the danger it faced. And the Band Played On is both a tribute to these heroic people and a stinging indictment of the institutions that failed the nation so badly.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	p. xi
Dramatis Personae	p. xiii
The Bureaucracy	p. xvii
Prologue	p. xxi
Behold, A Pale Horse
The Feast of the Hearts	p. 3
Before/1980
Glory Days	p. 11
Beaches of the Dispossessed	p. 25
Foreshadowing	p. 34
Freeze Frames	p. 42
Paving the Road/1981
Critical Mass	p. 53
Good Intentions	p. 61
The Prettiest One	p. 70
Ambush Poppers	p. 80
Golf Courses of Science	p. 93
Bad Moon Rising	p. 102
The Gathering Darkness/1982
Enemy Time	p. 115
Patient Zero	p. 128
Bicentennial Memories	p. 141
Nightsweats	p. 149
Too Much Blood	p. 160
Entropy	p. 169
Running on Empty	p. 178
Forced Feeding	p. 185
Dirty Secrets	p. 196
Dancing in the Dark	p. 204
Battle Lines/January-June 1983
Let It Bleed	p. 219
Midnight Confessions	p. 227
Denial	p. 234
Anger	p. 242
The Big Enchilada	p. 253
Turning Points	p. 263
Only the Good	p. 278
Priorities	p. 288
Meanwhile	p. 299
AIDSpeak Spoken Here	p. 314
Star Quality	p. 324
Rituals/July-December 1983
Marathons	p. 339
Just Another Day	p. 349
Politics	p. 359
Science	p. 366
Public Health	p. 374
Journalism	p. 384
People	p. 394
Lights and Tunnels/1984
Prisoners	p. 405
Bargaining	p. 413
The Feast of the Hearts, Part II	p. 423
Squeeze Play	p. 429
Traitors	p. 440
Political Science	p. 450
Downbound Train	p. 457
Republicans and Democrats	p. 466
Embarrassed	p. 477
Depression	p. 486
The War	p. 495
The Butcher's Bill/1985
Heterosexuals	p. 507
Exiles	p. 517
Reckoning	p. 528
Exposed	p. 539
Awakening	p. 548
Acceptance	p. 561
Endgame	p. 572
Epilogue/After
Reunion	p. 585
The Feast of the Hearts, Part III	p. 602
Notes on Sources	p. 607
Index	p. 615
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