Plagues upon the Earth: Disease and the Course of Human History

Description

How deadly germs and pandemics have shaped history - and why they are products of our success as a species. Plagues upon the Earth is a monumental history of humans and their germs. Weaving together a grand narrative of global history with insights from cutting-edge genetics, Kyle Harper explains why humanity's uniquely dangerous disease pool is rooted deep in our evolutionary past, and why its growth is accelerated by technological progress. He shows that the story of disease is entangled with the history of slavery, colonialism, and capitalism, and reveals the enduring effects of historical plagues in patterns of wealth, health, power, and inequality. He also tells the story of humanity's escape from infectious disease - a triumph that makes life as we know it possible, yet destabilises the environment and fosters new diseases. Panoramic in scope, Plagues upon the Earth traces the role of disease in the transition to farming, the spread of cities, the advance of transportation, and the stupendous increase in human population. Harper offers a new interpretation of humanity's path to control over infectious disease-one where rising evolutionary threats constantly push back against human progress, and where the devastating effects of modernisation contribute to the great divergence between societies. The book reminds us that human health is globally interdependent - and inseparable from the well-being of the planet itself. Putting the COVID-19 pandemic in perspective, Plagues upon the Earth tells the story of how we got here as a species, and it may help us decide where we want to go. 'Well-conceived...[Kyle] Harper combs through the literature of history, economics, epidemiology, and other disciplines to deliver a solid study of the role of infectious disease in the human story... Harper's long-view study is a welcome addition to the spate of recent books on epidemic disease.' - Kirkus Reviews

Kyle Harper is professor of classics and letters at the University of Oklahoma. His books include The Fate of Rome: Climate, Disease, and the End of an Empire (Princeton) and From Shame to Sin: The Christian Transformation of Sexual Morality in Late Antiquity. He lives in Moore, Oklahoma. Website kyleharper.net Twitter @Oklahomaharper

"A New Statesman Essential Non-Fiction Book of 2021" "Winner of the PROSE Award in the History of Science, Medicine, and Technology, Association of American Publishers" "A Choice Outstanding Academic Title of the Year" "[A] superb new history of infectious disease. Be so grateful you live now!"---David Frum "Magisterial. . . . [Harper's] mastery of the science is only matched by the ease of his prose. If I were to nominate a book of the year, it would be this one."---Andrew Sullivan, The Dishcast "[A] sweeping masterpiece. . . . It's difficult for me to think of anyone who will not find something eye-opening and enlightening in the pages of this comprehensive, beautifully written and eloquent book." * Forbes * "Plagues upon the Earth is a remarkable achievement."---Talha Burki, The Lancet "This magnificent book stood out as much for its nuance and academic rigour as it did for its readability." * Inquisitive Biologist * "An ambitious, engaging, and unified history of humanity's interaction with infectious disease."---Gregory J. Morgan, Science "By integrating history, demography, economics, evolutionary biology and genomics into a seamless narrative, [Harper] does something that I, for one, have never seen before done so eloquently or persuasively: he demonstrates that any thorough understanding of health requires the kind of sweeping perspective that the humanities offers."---Steve Mintz, Inside Higher Ed "Comprehensive."---Tyler Cowen, Marginal Revolution "Well-conceived. ... [Kyle] Harper combs through the literature of history, economics, epidemiology, and other disciplines to deliver a solid study of the role of infectious disease in the human story. ... Harper's long-view study is a welcome addition to the spate of recent books on epidemic disease." * Kirkus Reviews * "This is a solid book, superbly referenced and interdisciplinary, covering disease from pre-human origins to the present, and making extensive use of published DNA comparisons and descriptions of plagues by historical observers." * Choice * "Completing the reading of this book leaves one with more than a feeling of satisfaction. Admiration for a major task that was written in an engaging style that retains a facile elegance throughout its 700 pages, that presents comprehensive and detailed information as though it were the sort of material that readers come across every day, is what one might not expect, but welcomes, in a serious work of this size."---Ian Lipke, Queensland Reviewers Collective "This timely work is the book of extraordinary brilliance and scope and the most significant in the field since William McNeill's Plagues and Peoples from the mid-1970s."---David Lorimer, Paradigm Explorer "Magisterial." * Prospect * "Plagues Upon the Earth is a highly provoking and enjoyable read. It shows that our success as a species is equally paralleled to the success of pathogens"---Makayla Alderson Fox, World History Encyclopedia