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The outcomes of host‐parasite interactions depend on the coevolutionary forces acting upon them, but because every host‐parasite relation is enmeshed in a web of biotic and abiotic interactions across a heterogeneous landscape, host‐parasite coevolution has proven difficult to study. Simple laboratory phage‐bacteria microcosms can ameliorate this difficulty by allowing controlled, well‐replicated experiments with a limited number of interactors. Genetic, population, and life history data obtained from these studies permit a closer examination of the fundamental correlates of host‐parasite coevolution. In this paper, I describe the results of phage‐bacteria coevolutionary studies and their implications for the study of host‐parasite coevolution. Recent experimental studies have confirmed phage‐host coevolutionary dynamics in the laboratory and have shown that coevolution can increase parasite virulence …