This sweeping exploration of the impact of epidemic diseases looks at how mass infectious
outbreaks have shaped society from the Black Death to today and in a new preface addresses
the global threat of COVID-19. In a clear and accessible style 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. A multidisciplinary and
comparative investigation of the medical and social history of the major epidemics this volume
touches on themes such as the evolution of medical therapy plague literature poverty the
environment and mass hysteria. In addition to providing historical perspective on diseases
such as smallpox cholera and tuberculosis Snowden examines the fallout from recent epidemics
such as HIV AIDS SARS and Ebola and the question of the world's preparedness for the next
generation of diseases.
