Epidemics and Society: From the Black Death to the Present (Open Yale Courses)

As seen on 60 Minutes: a brilliant and sobering (Paul Kennedy Wall Street Journal) look at the history and human costs of pandemic outbreaks The World Economic Forum #1 book to read for context on the coronavirus outbreak "Well-written highly entertaining and relevant."Financial Times "Best Books of 2020: Readers Choice" This sweeping exploration of the impact of epidemic diseases looks at how mass infectious outbreaks have shaped society from the Black Death to today. 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 worlds preparedness for the next generation of diseases.