Focusing on the years between the identification of bacteria and the production of antibiotic drugs, Wall presents a study into how medical bacteriology was integrated within both clinical practice and public knowledge. Using a series of case studies, she demonstrates how physicians began to use bacteriology as a diagnostic tool and how the public and lawyers argued about responsibility for bacterial diseases in workplaces and local communities. Wall examines particular outbreaks of anthrax and typhoid in detail, addressing issues of local politics and public health.

"'Bacteria in Britain is the deftly told history of the rise of the germ theory of disease. No one will doubt after reading this book that the story of bacteriology is inseparable from the history of the businesses, laws, institutions and politics of the people who pursued – and contested – it. A brilliantly constructed account.'"