And the Band Played On: Politics, People, and the AIDS Epidemic

by Randy Shilts

The bitter truth was that AIDS did not just happen to America—it was allowed to happen by an array of institutions, all of which failed to perform their appropriate tasks to safeguard the public health. This failure of the system leaves a legacy of unnecessary suffering that will haunt the Western world for decades to come.

The story of these first five years of AIDS in America is a drama of national failure, played out against a backdrop of needless death.

Without the media to fulfill its role as public guardian, everyone else was left to deal—and not deal—with AIDS as they saw fit.