Malaria has brought mankind more poverty, sickness, and death than almost any other single scourge, even war. The Fever Bark Tree is the story of man's fight against this disease from the time when it killed Alexander of Macedon at the height of his power to World War II, when it accounted for more than half the total casualties and was one of the biggest single problems of the Pacific campaign. It is also the story of quinine, the life-saving drug that, until recently, has been the only effective agent for controlling the dread disease.—Print ed.