"And The Band Played On"

Train wrecks occur all at once with perhaps a few previous indicators to let the omniscient know of their inevitability. Faulty wiring, a drunk driver.
The time period before the AIDS epidemic was filled with countless train wrecks with too many previous indicators of destruction to enumerate, but the book "And the Band Played On" does make the attempt.
In fact, the sheer volume of unfortunate, ignorant, and clearly destructive circumstances leading to our era's Black Plague attributes to a feeling akin to swimming through broken glass to reach the edge of an ocean of suffering. Of course, we haven't reached the edge yet, but, with the newest developing technologies in prevention and identification, we believe in the edge.
This book is a literal must-read. In an era so defined by its major diseases, everyone must be aware of the history of AIDS to better fight against it and to develop the compassion towards those suffering its consequences.