Includes bibliographical references and index.

Introduction. "A contagious living fluid" : tobacco mosaic virus and the discovery of the virosphere -- Old companions. The uncommon cold : how rhinoviruses gently conquered the world ; Looking down from the stars : influenza's never-ending reinvention ; Rabbits with horns : human papillomavirus and infectious cancer -- Everywhere, in all things. The enemy of our enemy : bacteriophages as viral medicine ; The infected ocean : how marine phages rule the sea ; Our inner parasites : endogenous retroviruses and our virus-riddled genomes -- The viral future. The young scourge : human immunodeficiency virus and the animal origins of disease ; Becoming an American : the globalization of West Nile virus ; The pandemic age : why COVID-19 should have come as no surprise ; The long goodbye : the delayed oblivion of Smallpox -- Epilogue. The alien in the water cooler : giant viruses and what it means to be a virus.

"Viruses are the smallest living things known to science, and yet they hold the entire planet in their sway. We're most familiar with the viruses that give us colds or Covid-19. But viruses also cause a vast range of other diseases, including one disorder that makes people sprout branch-like growths as if they were trees. Viruses have been a part of our lives for so long that we are actually part virus: the human genome contains more DNA from viruses than our own genes. Meanwhile, scientists are discovering viruses everywhere they look: in the soil, in the ocean, even in deep caves miles underground. A Planet of Viruses pulls back the veil on this hidden world. It presents the latest research on how viruses hold sway over our lives and our biosphere, how viruses helped give rise to the first life-forms, how viruses are producing new diseases, how we can harness viruses for our own ends, and how viruses will continue to control our fate for years to come"