You are viewing your 1 free article this month. Login to read more articles.
The Bodley Head has signed Self Defence: The Vital New Science of Good Immune Health by Daniel M Davis, professor of immunology and head of life sciences at Imperial College London.
Connor Brown, acting editorial director, acquired world rights on behalf of Will Hammond, deputy publishing director, from Caroline Hardman at Hardman & Swainson in an exclusive submission, for publication in spring 2025.
The publisher says Self Defence will be “the first truly authoritative and accessible scientific guide to the effects of stress, age, exercise, weight, nutrition, sleep and mental well-being on immune health”.
Its synopsis reads: “In recent years, science has revealed the immune system to be something like a master key to human health. It not only protects us from disease but connects every aspect of our body in a vast and intricate web. And yet each person’s immune system is both unfathomably complex and unique, making this one of the most challenging areas of science. So how do different lifestyles affect our immune system and what can we actually do to benefit our immune health?
“Only very recently have clear answers to these questions begun to emerge. [Self Defence] equips the reader to weigh the bold claims made for various diets and supplements and to make informed choices about everything from nutrition and exercise regimes to cancer therapies and the vaccines of the future.
“Davis urges us to be wary of one-size-fits-all ‘cures’ and punctures some key myths and misunderstandings. We learn how exercise, for example, has all sorts of different, even opposing, short- and long-term effects on our immune health. And while our gut microbes are vitally important, it’s unlikely that yoghurt drinks are the answer. Nor will orange juice prevent that cold.
“But much is now known and genuine opportunities do now exist to enhance our immune health. Self Defence is the indispensable guide to navigating these opportunities as well as some astonishing possibilities for the future.”
Daniel M Davis is head of life sciences and professor of immunology at Imperial College London. His previous books include The Beautiful Cure: The New Science of Human Health (Vintage), which was shortlisted for the Royal Society Science Book Prize 2018.
His first book, The Compatibility Gene (Allen Lane), was longlisted for the Royal Society Science Book Prize, shortlisted for the Society of Biology book prize and described by Bill Bryson in the Guardian’s Books of the Year as “elegantly written and unexpectedly gripping”.
His most recent book is The Secret Body: How the New Science of the Human Body is Changing the Way We Live (The Bodley Head). He is currently the chair of the editorial board for The Biologist, the members’ magazine for the Royal Society of Biology.