Epidemics and Society: From the Black Death to the Present by Frank M. Snowden
8vo. pp. xvii, 582. b/w text illustrations. bibliography. index. wrs. New Haven & London: Yale University Press, [2020].
New.
ISBN: 0300256396 / 9780300256390
NUMBER 1 on the World Economic Forum's list of the five books to read for context about the Coronavirus Outbreak
A wide-ranging study that illuminates the connection between epidemic diseases and societal change, from the Black Death to the coronavirus
This sweeping exploration of the impact of epidemic diseases looks at how mass infectious outbreaks have shaped society, from the Black Death to today. Frank M. Snowden reveals the ways that diseases have not only influenced medical science and public health, but also transformed the arts, religion, intellectual history, and warfare. Snowdon touches on themes such as the evolution of medical therapy, plague literature, poverty, the environment, and mass hysteria. In addition to providing historical perspectives on diseases such as smallpox, cholera, and tuberculosis, Snowdon examines the fallout from recent epidemics and the question of the world's preparedness for the next generation of diseases, and in a new preface addresses the global threat of COVID-19.