Smallpox book by local author is shortlisted for top award (From Gazette Series)

Rockhampton author in line for top literary award

8:00am Monday 25th October 2010 in News By Liza-Jane Gillespie

A NEW book detailing the impact of small pox on society and the groundbreaking work of Berkeley doctor Edward Jenner has been shortlisted for a top literary award.

Angel of Death: the story of smallpox, written by Gareth Williams from Rockhampton, has been shortlisted in the Wellcome Trust Book Prize, the medical equivalent of the Booker Prize.

The book details previously unheard accounts of the disease, and its eventual eradication by Dr Jenner. The book also features John Fewster, a doctor living in Thornbury at the time and a friend of Jenner, who is reported to have experimented with smallpox vaccination before Jenner.

Local author Mr Williams, who is a professor of medicine at the University of Bristol, has penned more than 20 medical books and 200 scientific papers.

"This book is for general readership and people do not have to have any specialist medical knowledge. The book looks at early human history, how small pox influenced history and the impact of its eradication," he said.

Mr Williams, who is also a trustee of the Edward Jenner Museum in Berkeley, wrote the book in one year during a sabbatical.

"It was huge fun and the best year of my career," he said.

"I have the medical background but I knew nothing about small pox before I started researching. Small pox was just about becoming eradicated when I became a doctor and I have never seen a case."

Proceeds from the sale of the Angel of Death will be given to the Edward Jenner Museum.

Angel of Death is just one of six books shortlisted in the Wellcome Trust Book Prize, from 700 titles entered. The winner will be announced on November 9 at an awards ceremony in London.

To view the full Wellcome Trust Book Prize shortlist go to, www.wellcomebookprize.org/2010/Shortlist/index.htm For more information on the Jenner Museum visit, www.jennermuseum.com