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Cover of Biological War

Biological War

A Scenario

Annie Jacobsen

Written by
Annie Jacobsen
Length
11 hrs 13 min
Rating
4.7 / 5
Listed
$21.60
Publisher
Penguin Audio
Released
2026-07-28

Shelved under

What it is

Instant New York Times Bestseller!

New York Times Editors' Choice One of People's 15 Most Anticipated Books of Summer The Next Big Idea Club's July 2026 Must-Read Books One of the New York Times Nonfiction Everyone Will Be Reading This Summer Sunset Magazine's 15 New Books You Don't Want to Miss

From Annie Jacobsen, the author of the bestselling Nuclear War: A Scenario, a book on a subject that has long orbited her reporting: biological warfare.

A lab accident, a bio-attack, a global pandemic, and the collapse of human society. In this essential 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. It would be only a matter of days from such a global infection before the infrastructure built to handle this gravest of situations would be in a battle for human existence.

The fallout: mass death, total societal breakdown, widespread insurrection, anarchy, and a plague-ravaged wasteland that no longer resembles modern civilization. In other words: dystopia.

Following the gripping narrative style that launched Nuclear War to the New York Times bestseller list, Jacobsen looks deeply at a situation that is in some ways the opposite of a nuclear bomb: 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 something so malicious, that when used for evil, only evil can result.

This is what could happen; a ticking-clock 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.

On the charts

Charting now — best position 2 on Bestsellers in Science & Engineering, reached September 21, 2026. Seen on 10 charts over 45 days of readings, the first on August 28, 2026.

1 9 2 August 29, 2026 October 24, 2026 August 29, 2026 — position 6September 2, 2026 — position 5September 3, 2026 — position 5September 4, 2026 — position 4September 5, 2026 — position 3September 6, 2026 — position 4September 8, 2026 — position 3September 10, 2026 — position 4September 11, 2026 — position 6September 12, 2026 — position 6September 13, 2026 — position 9September 17, 2026 — position 7September 21, 2026 — position 2September 22, 2026 — position 3September 23, 2026 — position 5September 24, 2026 — position 5September 25, 2026 — position 4September 26, 2026 — position 4September 27, 2026 — position 6September 28, 2026 — position 8September 29, 2026 — position 6September 30, 2026 — position 7October 1, 2026 — position 6October 2, 2026 — position 4October 3, 2026 — position 2October 4, 2026 — position 2October 5, 2026 — position 2October 6, 2026 — position 2October 7, 2026 — position 2October 8, 2026 — position 4October 9, 2026 — position 6October 10, 2026 — position 3October 11, 2026 — position 3October 12, 2026 — position 2October 13, 2026 — position 2October 14, 2026 — position 2October 15, 2026 — position 4October 16, 2026 — position 2October 17, 2026 — position 2October 18, 2026 — position 9October 19, 2026 — position 9October 21, 2026 — position 5October 22, 2026 — position 9October 24, 2026 — position 7
Bestsellers in Science & Engineering — position by day.
ChartBestDaysLast seen
Science & Engineering
Bestsellers 2 45 days October 24, 2026
New releases 4 44 days October 24, 2026
Libby 23 34 days October 24, 2026
History
New releases 7 34 days October 24, 2026
Bestsellers 8 31 days October 17, 2026
Computers & Technology
Libby 9 34 days October 24, 2026
Politics & Social Sciences
New releases 11 21 days October 19, 2026
Bestsellers 16 7 days October 12, 2026
Libby 18 34 days October 24, 2026
All audiobooks
Apple Books 11 11 days October 18, 2026

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