By the time Rock Hudson's death in 1985 alerted all America to the danger of the AIDS epidemic, the disease had spread across the nation, killing thousands of people and emerging as the greatest health crisis of the 20th century. America faced a troubling question: What happened? How was this epidemic allowed to spread so far before it was taken seriously? In answering these questions, Shilts weaves weaves the disparate threads into a coherent story, pinning down every evasion and contradiction at the highest levels of the medical, political, and media establishments. Shilts shows that the epidemic spread wildly because the federal government put budget ahead of the nation's welfare; health authorities placed political expediency before the public health; and scientists were often more concerned with international prestige than saving lives. Against this backdrop, Shilts tells the heroic stories of individuals in science and politics, public health and the gay community, who struggled to alert the nation to the enormity of the danger it faced. And the Band Played On is both a tribute to these heroic people and a stinging indictment of the institutions that failed the nation so badly.

Randy Shilts was born in 1951, in Davenport, Iowa. One of the first openly gay journalists hired at a major newspaper, he worked for the San Francisco Chronicle for thirteen years. He died of AIDS in 1994 at his home in the Sonoma County redwoods in California. He was the author of The Mayor of Castro Street: The Life and Times of Harvey Milk (1982), And the Band Played On: Politics, People and the AIDS Epidemic (1987), and Conduct Unbecoming: Lesbians and Gays in the U.S. Military (1993). He also wrote extensively for many major newspapers and magazines, including The New York Times, Newsweek, Esquire, The Los Angeles Times, and The Advocate. And the Band Played On was made into a docudrama that was broadcast on HBO in 1993.

AcknowledgmentsDramatis Personae The Bureaucracy ProloguePart I. Behold, A Pale Horse 1. The Feast of the HeartsPart II. Before/1980 2. Glory Days 3. Beaches of the Dispossessed4. Foreshadowing5. Freeze Frames Part III. Paving the Road/1981 6. Critical Mass7. Good Intentions 8. The Prettiest One 9. Ambush Poppers 10. Golf Courses of Science 11. Bad Moon Rising Part IV. The Gathering Darkness/198212. Enemy Time13. Patient Zero14. Bicentennial Memories15. Nightsweats16. Too Much Blood17. Entropy18. Running on Empty 19. Forced Feeding 20. Dirty Secrets21. Dancing in the DarkPart V. Battle Lines/January-June 1983 22. Let It Bleed 23. Midnight Confessions24. Denial25. Anger 26. The Big Enchilada 27. Turning Points 28. Only the Good 29. Priorities 30. Meanwhile 31. AIDSpeak Spoken Here32. Star QualityPart VI. Rituals/July-December 1983 33. Marathons 34. Just Another Day 35. Politics36. Science 37. Public Health 38. Journalism 39. People Part VII. Lights & Tunnels/1984 40. Prisoners 41. Bargaining42. The Feast of the Hearts, Part II 43. Squeeze Play44. Traitors 45. Political Science46. Downbound Train 47. Republicans and Democrats 48. Embarrassed49. Depression50. The WarPart VIII. The Butcher's Bill/1985 51. Heterosexuals 52. Exiles 53 Reckoning 54. Exposed 55. Awakening 56. Acceptance 57. Endgame Part IX. Epilogue/After 58. Reunion 59. The Feast of the Hearts, Part III Notes on Sources Index