*** How To Survive A Plague by David France

If you remember the 80s and early 90s when healthy young men would suddenly turn into skeletons and die you will read How to Survive a Plague: The Inside Story of How Citizens and Science Tamed AIDS with sadness for all who died and interest for how small groups of dedicated activists pushed the government and the medical establishment to action and changed the way drug research is conducted while around them their friends and they themselves sickened and died. The story focuses on the New York groups ACT UP and TAG, and refers only briefly to other groups within the country, which is frustrating at times, but the story mixes the personal, intimate experiences of the author and the other actors with the larger narrative in a very effective manner. The later part of the book descends into the internal power struggles of the activist groups, which are just as boring as one would expect, but you can stop reading at any time.