PLAGUES AND PEOPLES. - Softcover

McNeill, William H Ed.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0140551395 ISBN 13: 9780140551396

Publisher: Penguin, 1979

Synopsis

Series; Peregrine books. Physical description; 330 pages ; 20 cm. Notes; Paperback. Bibliography. Summary; This book describes the dramatic impact of infectious diseases on the rise and fall of civilisations. Plague demoralized the Athenian army during the Peloponnesian war, and ravaged the Roman Empire. In the 16th century smallpox was the decisive agent that allowed Cortez with only 600 men to conquer the Aztec empire, whose subjects numbered millions. As recently as 1918-19 an epidemic of influenza claimed twenty-one million victims, and seemed to threaten civilization itself. Diseases such as syphilis, cholera, smallpox and malariahave been devastating to humanity for centuries. Now professor McNeill, through an accumulation of evidence, demonstrates the central role of pestilence in human affairs and the extent to which it has changed the course of history. Subjects; Epidemiology. Epidemics. Plague. History of Medicine. Disease Outbreaks - history. Epidemiology - history. Civilization - history. Epidemics - Social aspects. Epidemics - Social aspects - History. Plague - History. Civilization - Effects of epidemics, to 1975. civilization - effects - epidemics - man - epidemics - effects on civilization. Social & cultural history ; History of medicine ; Infectious & contagious diseases ; Medical microbiology & virology. History / Social History. Medical / History. Medical / Infectious Diseases. Medical / Microbiology. Genre; Student Collection.

About this title

Review:

No small themes for historian William McNeill: he is a writer of big, sweeping books, from The Rise of the West to The History of the World. Plagues and Peoples considers the influence of infectious diseases on the course of history, and McNeill pays special attention to the Black Death of the 13th and 14th centuries, which killed millions across Europe and Asia. (At one point, writes McNeill, 10,000 people in Constantinople alone were dying each day from the plague.) With the new crop of plagues and epidemics in our own time, McNeill's quiet assertion that "in any effort to understand what lies ahead the role of infectious disease cannot properly be left out of consideration" takes on new significance.

From the Publisher:

McNeill's highly acclaimed work is a brilliant and challenging account of the effects of disease on human history. His sophisticated analysis and detailed grasp of the subject make this book fascinating reading. By the author of The Rise Of The West.

About this edition

• Publisher: Penguin
• Publication date: 1979
• ISBN 10: 0140551395
• ISBN 13: 9780140551396
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 336