
Pathogenesis
A History of the World in Eight Plagues
Jonathan Kennedy(Author)
Crown Publishing Group, Division of Random House Inc
Published on 12. March 2024
Book
Paperback/Softback
320 pages
978-0-593-24049-6 (ISBN)
Description
NATIONAL BESTSELLER - A "gripping" (The Washington Post) account of how the major transformations in history--from the rise of Homo sapiens to the birth of capitalism--have 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 world's 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 past--and 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.
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
New York
United States
Publishing group
Random House USA Inc
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Dimensions
Height: 197 mm
Width: 130 mm
Thickness: 20 mm
Weight
248 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-593-24049-6 (9780593240496)
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Schweitzer Classification
Person
Jonathan Kennedy teaches politics and global health at Queen Mary University of London. He has a PhD in sociology from the University of Cambridge.