AND THE BAND PLAYED ON: Politics, People and the AIDS Epidemic

New York: St. Martin's Press, 1987. First edition (stated). Near fine in near fine jacket.. Inscribed first printing of the essential work of investigative journalism on the AIDS epidemic. "There was no excuse, in this country and in this time, for the spread of a deadly new epidemic."

The unsparing prologue to Shilts's immense journalistic achievement is full of such bitter truths; thirty years on, they shock the reader both for their historical accuracy and for their continuing truth. Even as greatmedical and social advances have relieved much suffering since the height of the AIDS crisis, the tendency of the powerful to ignore science when it suits them, and to abandon the dying when helping them appears unprofitable, remains in full force. AND THE BAND PLAYED ON is a thorough and precise accounting of the early years of the AIDS epidemic and the Reagan administration's ghastly and murderous mismanagement of a public health catastrophe, chronologically organized and immensely detailed. As a journalist, Shilts was sometimes at odds with the gay community he wrote both to and about, and remains controversial for some of his claims; despite his still-debated stature, his achievements led to the eventual ranking of his AIDS reporting as one of the top 100 works of journalism in the 20th century. 9.25'' x 6''. Original quarter green cloth with cream boards. Gilt-lettered spine. In original unclipped ($24.95) dust jacket. xxiii, 630 pages. Inscribed by Shilts on half title: "To Dennis-Warmly / Randy Shilts / San Francisco." Minor bumping and faint sunning to edges of boards. Jacket panels lightly toned.