Biological War: The Sunday Times bestselling non-fiction thriller

There is an invisible weapon among us.
By the time you know you are a victim, it has turned you into a killer.

A compelling, fast-paced, ticking clock non-fiction thriller from the author of the bestselling Nuclear War: A Scenario.

A lab accident, a bio-attack, a global pandemic, and the collapse of human society. In this explosive new book, based on dozens of new interviews with experts with high-level political, governmental, medical, and military responsibility, Annie Jacobsen examines this very scenario.

There is no mushroom cloud, no shock wave or blast. Instead, the scenario that could end the world as we know it begins with something so small and malicious, that when used for evil, only evil can result.

This is what could happen; a roadmap to the hours, days, and weeks following the release of a biological agent, that serves as the most essential, forward-looking journalism in preparation for urgent societal upheaval.

'A persuasive and unnerving argument' The New Yorker

'Read this book. It is a better briefing on the problem than the one we recived in Downing Street six years ago.' James Phillips, Spectator

'It's gripping and very, very scary how this scenario plays out.' Transfer Orbit

© Annie Jacobsen 2026 (P) Penguin Audio 2026