August Books lands history of the common cold from David Miles

August Books has landed Sneeze, a history of the common cold, by David Miles from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine.

Executive publisher Martina O’Sullivan acquired UK and Commonwealth rights from Eli Keren at Curious Minds Agency. The book is scheduled for publication in spring 2026.

Keren said: "I’ve always loved the way David communicates science through human experiences, and I’m happy that he’s soon going to be sharing his expertise on this subject with the world."

Sneeze will use a century of research to explore "what colds are and where they come from, to reveal steps we can take to avoid catching them, fighting them and, most ambitiously, the steps that we as a society can take to make our environment less conducive to spreading them".

Miles said: "I’m fed up with colds, you’re fed up with colds, everyone is fed up with colds. I’m looking forward to talking about what they are, how we know what they are and what we can do to be less fed up with them."

O’Sullivan added: "Having a cold is a universal human experience and yet we know far too little about what it is and how science has tried to tackle it through the ages. David is just the expert to take us on a fascinating exploration through the science of a common scourge."

Miles’ first book How Vaccines Work was published with Piatkus last year.