In this witty book British journalist Christy Campbell interweaves a dramatic tale of the devastation of vineyards in 1860's France with cultural history and the mad race by scientists (and others) to discover the cause and cure. The French were none too pleased that salvation (as well as the disease) came in the form of American root stock. The mysterious disease, ultimately diagnosed as a tiny phyloxerra aphid, threatened vines in Italy, Portugal, Germany and Switzerland. Eastern Europe and as far afield as Australia.  (FRN497, $14.95)