title: World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War
author:  Max Brooks 
description: Brooks, the author of the determinedly straight-faced parody <I>The Zombie Survival Guide</I> (2003), returns in all seriousness to the zombie theme for his second outing, a future history in the style of Theodore Judson's <I>Fitzpatrick's War</I>. Brooks tells the story of the world's desperate battle against the zombie threat with a series of first-person accounts "as told to the author" by various characters around the world. A Chinese doctor encounters one of the earliest zombie cases at a time when the Chinese government is ruthlessly suppressing any information about the outbreak that will soon spread across the globe. The tale then follows the outbreak via testimony of smugglers, intelligence officials, military personnel and many others who struggle to defeat the zombie menace. Despite its implausible premise and choppy delivery, the novel is surprisingly hard to put down. The subtle, and not so subtle, jabs at various contemporary politicians and policies are an added bonus. <I>(Sept.)</I> <BR>Copyright &copy; Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
zlib_text: ![](images/00006.jpg)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  CONTENTS
  
  
  [TITLE PAGE
  
  
  [DEDICATION
  
  
  [INTRODUCTION
  
  
    
  
  [WARNINGS
  
  
  [BLAME
  
  
  [THE GREAT PANIC
  
  
  [TURNING THE TIDE
  
  
  [HOME FRONT USA
  
  
  [AROUND THE WORLD, AND ABOVE
  
  
  [TOTAL WAR
  
  
  [GOOD-BYES
  
  
    
  
  [ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
  
  
  [ALSO BY MAX BROOKS
  
  
  [COPYRIGHT
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  For Henry Michael Brooks,  
  who makes me want to change the world
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  INTRODUCTION
  
  
  It goes by many names: “The Crisis,” “The Dark Years,” “The Walking Plague,”
  as well as newer and more “hip” titles such as “World War Z” or “Z War One.” I
  personally dislike this last moniker as it implies an inevitable “Z War Two.”
  For me, it will always be “The Zombie War,” and while many may protest the
  scientific accuracy of the word zombie, they will be hard-pressed to discover
  a more globally accepted term for the creatures that almost caused our
  extinction. Zombie remains a devastating word, unrivaled in its power to
  conjure up so many memories or emotions, and it is these memories, and
  emotio