Pranay Lal is a biochemist who works in the spheres of public health and environment. His first book
Indica: A Deep Natural History of the Indian Subcontinent won the 2017 Tata Lit Prize, the World Book Fair Award, among others, and was named by Mint Lounge as one of the fifty must-read books about India since Independence. You can reach him at invisible.empire@tutanota.com.
Viruses are the world's most abundant life form, and now, when humanity is in the midst of a close encounter with their immense power, perhaps the most feared. But do we understand viruses? Possibly the most enigmatic of living things, they are sometimes not considered a life form at all. Everything about them is extreme, including the reactions they evoke. However, for every truism about viruses, the opposite is also often true. So complex and diverse is the world of viruses that it merits being labelled an empire unto itself. And whether we see them as alive or dead, as life-threatening or life-affirming, there is an ineluctable beauty, even a certain elegance, in the way viruses go about their lives-or so Pranay Lal tells us in Invisible Empire: The Natural History of Viruses.
This is a book that defies categorisation. It brings together science, history and great storytelling to paint a fascinating picture of viruses as a major actor, not just in human civilisation but also in the human body. With rare photographs, paintings, illustrations and anecdotes, it is a magnificent and an extremely relevant book for our times, when we are attempting to understand viruses and examining their role in the lives of humans.
Viruses have shaped human civilisation and life on Earth in ways we are only beginning to understand. Pranay Lal's
Invisible Empire shows us tantalising glimpses of powerful hidden forces that affect each and every one of us. Fascinating and illuminating.Most of us think of viruses as agents of disease but they are among the most diverse and abundant organisms in the natural world, right at the boundary between the living and non-living. In this engaging and beautifully illustrated account, Pranay Lal takes us on a grand tour of the world of viruses, revealing their history and the amazing and varied roles they play in nature. Anyone interested in the natural world including young readers will greatly enjoy this book.Viruses are one of life's most powerful and mysterious forces, and shape our world in ways that we don't fully understand.
Invisible Empire illuminates a world which has so far only been looked at through the narrow lens of disease. This is one of those rare books that can truly change the way you see the world around you.Unlike many others of his ilk, Lal doesn't dwell on a self-engrossed historical account full of medical jargon. Instead, this uniquely entertaining book provides a wholesome and patient narrative that traves the journeys of viruses from millions of years ago to date and explains how they helped shape economies, cultures and attitudesNamed as GQ's best Indian non-fiction books of 2021: 20 extraordinary books from an extraordinary year
