This book provides the fundamental basis for a natural classification of the family Rickettsiaceae and perhaps even the order Rickettsiales. It shows how the pathogenic rickettsiae could have evolved in the course of geologic time through a series of evolutionary developments.

This book provides the fundamental basis for a natural classification of the family Rickettsiaceae and perhaps even the order Rickettsiales. It explores many fields and disciplines for evidence pertinent to an evolutionary history of the rickettsiae.