This is the story of one of mankind's ruthless enemies, a group of fatal afflictions called cancer. The villain is the central character. The hero, its conqueror, still waits in the wings.
The time of the story reaches back some 5 thousand years, to the earliest written records of Western man.
The stage is Europe and its civilization, especially since the Renaissance, and its extensions to America and elsewhere.
The presentation of the story is through events, persons, and written records. These are organized chronologically and by topics.
The story of cancer is grim and incomplete. Man recognized cancer and named it over 2 thousand years ago, but for all but the last hundred years he could do little against it. Now he stands at the threshold of understanding and of mastering this enemy.