{"product_id":"pathogenesis-a-history-of-the-world-in-eight-plagues-9780593240472","title":"Pathogenesis: A History of the World in Eight Plagues","description":"\u003cp\u003eNATIONAL BESTSELLER  A gripping (The Washington Post) account of how the major transformations in historyfrom the rise of Homo sapiens to the birth of capitalismhave been shaped not by humans but by germs  Superbly written . . . Kennedy seamlessly weaves together scientific and historical research  and his confident authorial voice is sure to please readers of Yuval Noah Harari or Rutger Bregman.The Times (U.K.)  According to the accepted narrative of progress  humans have thrived thanks to their brains and brawn  collectively bending the arc of history. But in this revelatory book  Professor Jonathan Kennedy argues that the myth of human exceptionalism overstates the role that we play in social and political change. Instead  it is the humble microbe that wins wars and topples empires.  Drawing on the latest research in fields ranging from genetics and anthropology to archaeology and economics  Pathogenesis takes us through sixty thousand years of history  exploring eight major outbreaks of infectious disease that have made the modern world. Bacteria and viruses were protagonists in the demise of the Neanderthals  the growth of Islam  the transition from feudalism to capitalism  the devastation wrought by European colonialism  and the evolution of the United States from an imperial backwater to a global superpower. Even Christianity rose to prominence in the wake of a series of deadly pandemics that swept through the Roman Empire in the second and third centuries: Caring for the sick turned what was a tiny sect into one of the worlds major religions.  By placing disease at the center of his wide-ranging history of humankind  Kennedy challenges some of the most fundamental assumptions about our collective pastand urges us to view this moment as another disease-driven inflection point that will change the course of history. Provocative and brimming with insight  Pathogenesis transforms our understanding of the human story.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"My Store","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":45651885228085,"sku":"ByrdShop_0593240472","price":52.04,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0627\/8139\/0901\/files\/9780593240472.jpg?v=1781843816","url":"https:\/\/atxbooks.com\/products\/pathogenesis-a-history-of-the-world-in-eight-plagues-9780593240472","provider":"ATX Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}