In 1949, at Burnet's request, I had been a co-author of the second edition of his book, The Production of Antibodies, but my contribution to this was minor, mainly looking up references on transplantation immunology. In 1957, I thought that the time was ripe to begin a book on myxomatosis. Since most of my papers on the subject had been published in one of the Cambridge University Press (CUP) journals, the Journal of Hygiene, I wrote to CUP in July 1957 to suggest that they might publish such a book and followed this up when I was in Cambridge in September 1957. The response of the Syndics was positive, but for various reasons I did not start it until 1960, when I knew that I would be going to Churchill College, in Cambridge, for a year in 1961–62. In a letter dated 23 June, 1960, I set out a rough outline of the book and told them that Francis Ratcliffe had agreed to be a co-author and that this would ensure that there would be adequate coverage of the ecological aspects. We signed a Memorandum of Agreement on 22 September, 1961; my first guess was that it would be about 100 pages long and that it would be finished in March 1963.
However, I had not allowed for the large amount of additional material I was able to get about myxomatosis in Europe during my year at Churchill College through travel in the United Kingdom and the Continent, as well as the extensive correspondence initiated with scientists there who had information on the disease. It was a pleasure to work with Francis on this book. He lived in Mugga Way, just up the street from my home in Monaro Crescent, and we met at his place after work to plan it and discuss its progress. The manuscript and figures were sent to CUP early in 1964 and it was finally published in October 1965. CUP provided us with copies of the reviews. There were four in Australian journals, one in an Austrian journal, four in French journals, seven in German journals, two in Italian journals, two in Romanian journals, two in South African journals, and eight in journals in the United States. There were also three in Australian newspapers and 16 in newspapers in the United Kingdom. I would like to quote from two of journal reviews. The Lancet said:
It is a splendid book. Not a word and not a picture are wasted, and it is a pleasure to read. The authors have drawn on every available source of information, as much by personal contact as from the printed word. The result is a complete story which ranges from the introduction of wild rabbits into Australia (domestic strains failed to take root) to the changes in virulence of the virus and susceptibility of the host which are still taking place.
Science said:
Without doubt man's own evolution has been greatly affected by racial experience with plagues of various types, ranging from malaria, typhus and smallpox to tuberculosis and other similar diseases; great die-offs in population create conditions favorable for evolutionary change. Nearly all virulent diseases, newly introduced, have become attenuated with time by mutual adaptations of host and parasites. The Australian investigators are to be congratulated on providing such a lucid and well-documented account of how such modifications actually take place.