Bugged!: How Insects Changed History by Sarah Albee (review)

Albee takes a humorous but informed look at the “collision of the insect world with the human world,” demonstrating that any number of pivotal episodes in world history were directly or indirectly influenced by insects acting as serious annoyances or disease vectors. She begins with a brush-up on the difference between insects, true bugs, and arachnid, and then it’s full speed ahead into the lice-infested history of human hygiene and lack thereof, a few positive contributions made by the insect community (particularly as protein-rich food), and how fleas and flies and ants and beetles and lice have been responsible for such diverse mayhem as the Black Plague and the 2007 interruption of a Yankees/Indians baseball game. Albee is a gleeful punster, playing with inset boxes labeled “Insect Aside,” and goofy section titles such as “The Reign of Spain is Plainly on the Wane,” and “Let Us Spray.” Photographs (like the text, in rich purple tones accented with teal) are chosen for jokeyness as often as information, and they mingle cheerfully with cartoons and spot art. A glossary, endotes, an index, and further reading suggestions are included.