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The Great Shadow: A History of How Sickness Shapes What We Do, Think, Believe, and Buy
Not yet published
Expected 27 Jan 26"Allows readers to practically experience firsthand how humans have adapted to and dealt with disease throughout history...necessary and timely...engaging and entertaining. Highly recommended."
―Library Journal, starred
"[A] splendid examination...Deeply insightful if unsettling."
― Kirkus
Anti-science, anti-vaccine, anti-reason beliefs seem to be triumphing over common sense today. How did we get here? The Great Shadow brings a huge missing piece to this puzzle—the experience of actually being ill. What did it feel like to be a woman or man struggling with illness in ancient times, in the Middle Ages, in the seventeenth century, or in 1920? And how did that shape our thoughts and convictions?
The Great Shadow uses extensive historical research and first-person accounts to tell a vivid story about sickness and our responses to it, from very ancient times until the last decade. In the process of writing, historian Susan Wise Bauer reveals just how many of our current fads and causes are rooted in the moment-by-moment experience of sickness—from the search for a balanced lifestyle to plug-in air fresheners and bare hardwood floors. We can’t simply shout facts at people who refuse vaccinations, believe that immigrants carry diseases, or insist that God will look out for them during a pandemic. We have to enter with imagination, historical perspective, and empathy into their world. The Great Shadow does just that with page-turning flair.
―Library Journal, starred
"[A] splendid examination...Deeply insightful if unsettling."
― Kirkus
Anti-science, anti-vaccine, anti-reason beliefs seem to be triumphing over common sense today. How did we get here? The Great Shadow brings a huge missing piece to this puzzle—the experience of actually being ill. What did it feel like to be a woman or man struggling with illness in ancient times, in the Middle Ages, in the seventeenth century, or in 1920? And how did that shape our thoughts and convictions?
The Great Shadow uses extensive historical research and first-person accounts to tell a vivid story about sickness and our responses to it, from very ancient times until the last decade. In the process of writing, historian Susan Wise Bauer reveals just how many of our current fads and causes are rooted in the moment-by-moment experience of sickness—from the search for a balanced lifestyle to plug-in air fresheners and bare hardwood floors. We can’t simply shout facts at people who refuse vaccinations, believe that immigrants carry diseases, or insist that God will look out for them during a pandemic. We have to enter with imagination, historical perspective, and empathy into their world. The Great Shadow does just that with page-turning flair.
346 pages, Kindle Edition
Expected publication January 27, 2026
9 people are currently reading
6136 people want to read
About the author
Susan Wise Bauer
154 books1,100 followersSusan Wise Bauer is an American author, English instructor of writing and American literature at The College of William and Mary, and founder of Well-Trained Mind Press (formerly Peace Hill Press).
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August 29, 2025I always Love Books about Medical 🏥 Beliefs. This one like since it talks about how we shape our Beliefs based on actually having illness. It covers several hundred years. Find that Fascinating.
Hope I get an early copy, so can catch up on my Books and Start Reading It.
💊 😷 🤒 🤕
Hope I get an early copy, so can catch up on my Books and Start Reading It.
💊 😷 🤒 🤕
September 26, 2025
Writing my review for this book was delayed because I got sick. Tested out clear on all the nastier bugs, just a pernicious cold.
Of course, you say, all that reading about disease made you prone to it.
Ah, I say, you have fallen into the trap the book seeks to teach you to avoid.
This is a book about the history of illness. I am already prone to like a book like this about the invisible intellectual architecture of our world, the ideas that we do not think about yet are the Water that creates what ideas we have. It has its limitations: it is not global, and primarily about the West and Near East; not about injury rather than disease, and less about chronic conditions than about infectious diseases. These are reasonable limitations, and the last is the most interesting, in the sense that part of the thesis here is that the paradigm of infectious disease is vital to the cultural (mis)treatment of chronic conditions.
The style is perfect. A touch melodramatic, it consists of introductory vignettes of people, contemporary and ancient, both trying to reckon with disease before discussing the particularities of that point in history. I complain about history writers trying to make something too sexy, but this is the exception that proves the rule. Illness is so personal, and now so prosaic, that it takes narrative flair to stick the point like it needs to. This is not limited to the fear that is illness in the past, but also that same invisible architecture of the present that radically changes how we live and think about living.
Most of the book is history and it is consistently captivating history, because much of the history is about how the language and ideas around illness from discredited science persists into the contemporary world - the fact we call it a cold, for instance. This matters a lot for how we treat one another and our lives.
Likewise, the book sticks the landing on one of my other persisting complaints in non-fiction writing about the flirting with anti-science thinking. There is a temptation in a book like this to oversell the value of science, and the triumph of it over superstition. But as often as not, it is a triumph of empiricism. It is not the vaunted scientific method at work but a real jumble of following lines of results. Everything is obvious, once you know the answer. This has big effects for how to look at bad ideas about health, medicine, and science, and policy choices in general.
The kinda sorta problem here is that there is a bit of a formal mismatch between the facts and the conclusions. The range of discussion gets briefer the closer the book gets to the contemporary day, to the point that the end feels a bit abrupt. The place where the overall thesis is going is a retake on the Pax Antibiotica and how much that dismal side of that has come to control contemporary life. There is a sort of negative space sense to this in terms of the rest of the reading, that the conclusion is established by how much this was not the case earlier in human history. But the body of the text being primarily about the ways in which the past affects the present thinking, maybe not always negatively but to great extent, feels disconnected.
Still, this is an unreserved recommendation, as that just makes it more like two excellent books, both that could have been expanded on further, and probably with a third in there for the issues skipped in the process. You will not think about the world the same way.
My thanks to the author, Susan Wise Bauer, for writing the book, and to the publisher, St. Martin's Press, for making the ARC available to me.
Of course, you say, all that reading about disease made you prone to it.
Ah, I say, you have fallen into the trap the book seeks to teach you to avoid.
This is a book about the history of illness. I am already prone to like a book like this about the invisible intellectual architecture of our world, the ideas that we do not think about yet are the Water that creates what ideas we have. It has its limitations: it is not global, and primarily about the West and Near East; not about injury rather than disease, and less about chronic conditions than about infectious diseases. These are reasonable limitations, and the last is the most interesting, in the sense that part of the thesis here is that the paradigm of infectious disease is vital to the cultural (mis)treatment of chronic conditions.
The style is perfect. A touch melodramatic, it consists of introductory vignettes of people, contemporary and ancient, both trying to reckon with disease before discussing the particularities of that point in history. I complain about history writers trying to make something too sexy, but this is the exception that proves the rule. Illness is so personal, and now so prosaic, that it takes narrative flair to stick the point like it needs to. This is not limited to the fear that is illness in the past, but also that same invisible architecture of the present that radically changes how we live and think about living.
Most of the book is history and it is consistently captivating history, because much of the history is about how the language and ideas around illness from discredited science persists into the contemporary world - the fact we call it a cold, for instance. This matters a lot for how we treat one another and our lives.
Likewise, the book sticks the landing on one of my other persisting complaints in non-fiction writing about the flirting with anti-science thinking. There is a temptation in a book like this to oversell the value of science, and the triumph of it over superstition. But as often as not, it is a triumph of empiricism. It is not the vaunted scientific method at work but a real jumble of following lines of results. Everything is obvious, once you know the answer. This has big effects for how to look at bad ideas about health, medicine, and science, and policy choices in general.
The kinda sorta problem here is that there is a bit of a formal mismatch between the facts and the conclusions. The range of discussion gets briefer the closer the book gets to the contemporary day, to the point that the end feels a bit abrupt. The place where the overall thesis is going is a retake on the Pax Antibiotica and how much that dismal side of that has come to control contemporary life. There is a sort of negative space sense to this in terms of the rest of the reading, that the conclusion is established by how much this was not the case earlier in human history. But the body of the text being primarily about the ways in which the past affects the present thinking, maybe not always negatively but to great extent, feels disconnected.
Still, this is an unreserved recommendation, as that just makes it more like two excellent books, both that could have been expanded on further, and probably with a third in there for the issues skipped in the process. You will not think about the world the same way.
My thanks to the author, Susan Wise Bauer, for writing the book, and to the publisher, St. Martin's Press, for making the ARC available to me.
October 7, 2025
Reading this book gave me amazing insights into the sicknesses of the past and the empathy of understanding 'how' the people felt at different times throughout history...
Historical author Susan Wise Bauer does an excellent job chronicling the history of illness...and how one actually feels during these times...
An interesting book...
Highly Recommended!
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
This book is a great reminder of how horribly mankind has suffered from disease and infections in the past, and how we are far from conquering all that plagues us despite amazing recent advances in antibiotics and vaccines. I particularly like the stories, either reimagined or reconstructed from or taken directly from contemporary accounts, of the sufferings real people went through due to disease. This really humanizes the past and makes me appreciate anew how good we have it now - even just the ability to alleviate pain so we don't die in agony.
I really enjoyed this book: it was well written, well organized, and a page turner (even if a rather depressing one).
I really enjoyed this book: it was well written, well organized, and a page turner (even if a rather depressing one).
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
2.5 out of 5 stars
I was excited going into this book. A history of sickness and how that shaped the views and actions of society over time is right up my alley. The contents of the book lived up to the title, unfortunately this book fell apart for me immediately.
In “The Great Shadow: A History of How sickness Shapes What We Do, Think, Believe, and Buy,” Susan Wise Bauer does exactly what is promised and discusses how sickness shapes how societies acted and what they believed in. She covers a wide-range of history and discusses how views changed over time with new information and the impact of sickness on societies.
This book contains fascinating histories of sickness and their impact of the places hit the hardest by them. However, the way the information is presented is some of the worst writing I have seen in a while. The book starts in second person, which is an immediate no from me. Even though the second person does not stick around for long, the writing does not stay consistent. Some of the historical accounts are presented in first person with an excessive use of “we” instead of “them,” while other accounts are shared in third person. This writing choice prevented my ability to get into the book at all. I found myself feeling too annoyed to enjoy the contents. I count this as a major flaw. The book can hold the most exciting information, but if it is presented in a poor way, the book becomes unreadable.
I am truly bummed about the writing in this book. I really wanted to get into the history of sickness and its impacts on societies. Unfortunately, the inconsistent writing style is unforgivable to me. I could not get past it and because of that, I was unable to enjoy any part of this book. If you are interested in the history of sickness and are not bothered by the constantly changing point of view, then I recommend picking up this book. But, if you are like me and enjoy uniform writing styles, then skip this one.
I was excited going into this book. A history of sickness and how that shaped the views and actions of society over time is right up my alley. The contents of the book lived up to the title, unfortunately this book fell apart for me immediately.
In “The Great Shadow: A History of How sickness Shapes What We Do, Think, Believe, and Buy,” Susan Wise Bauer does exactly what is promised and discusses how sickness shapes how societies acted and what they believed in. She covers a wide-range of history and discusses how views changed over time with new information and the impact of sickness on societies.
This book contains fascinating histories of sickness and their impact of the places hit the hardest by them. However, the way the information is presented is some of the worst writing I have seen in a while. The book starts in second person, which is an immediate no from me. Even though the second person does not stick around for long, the writing does not stay consistent. Some of the historical accounts are presented in first person with an excessive use of “we” instead of “them,” while other accounts are shared in third person. This writing choice prevented my ability to get into the book at all. I found myself feeling too annoyed to enjoy the contents. I count this as a major flaw. The book can hold the most exciting information, but if it is presented in a poor way, the book becomes unreadable.
I am truly bummed about the writing in this book. I really wanted to get into the history of sickness and its impacts on societies. Unfortunately, the inconsistent writing style is unforgivable to me. I could not get past it and because of that, I was unable to enjoy any part of this book. If you are interested in the history of sickness and are not bothered by the constantly changing point of view, then I recommend picking up this book. But, if you are like me and enjoy uniform writing styles, then skip this one.
December 29, 2025
Susan Wise Bauer's The Great Shadow is a deep dive into how illness has cast a long shadow over what we think, do, believe and even buy. From the alchemical quests of medieval Europe to today's influencer-driven supplement fads, Bauer masterfully traces the threads of human response to disease, blending rigorous scholarship with vivid storytelling that makes centuries-old events feel immediate and personal.
What sets this book apart is Bauer's skill in weaving together distant eras: she juxtaposes the miasma theories and divine punishments of plague-ridden times with the pandemics of our own century, exposing how shame around sickness persists as a cultural undercurrent. Her research shines through in the wealth of primary sources including eyewitness accounts from patient and doctor perspectives, forgotten treatises, and propaganda pamphlets that bring the terror and folly of past outbreaks to life. It's not just history; it's a mirror reflecting our own vulnerabilities.
Particularly powerful is her unflinching examination of racism and scapegoating woven throughout. Time and again, societies pinned plagues on "outsiders" including Jews during the Black Death, immigrants in colonial eras or ethnic minorities in recent crises using disease as a flimsy excuse for violence, expulsion, and murder, utterly divorced from scientific reality. Bauer doesn't shy away from these dark patterns, yet she frames them with nuance, showing how fear exploits division while urging us toward evidence-based empathy.
This book left me both enlightened and unsettled, challenging me to rethink health narratives in politics, media, and daily life. If you're fascinated by the intersections of history, psychology, and public health or just want a scientific and historical lens on today's debates, The Great Shadow is essential reading. Bauer's prose is accessible yet erudite, making complex ideas flow effortlessly.
What sets this book apart is Bauer's skill in weaving together distant eras: she juxtaposes the miasma theories and divine punishments of plague-ridden times with the pandemics of our own century, exposing how shame around sickness persists as a cultural undercurrent. Her research shines through in the wealth of primary sources including eyewitness accounts from patient and doctor perspectives, forgotten treatises, and propaganda pamphlets that bring the terror and folly of past outbreaks to life. It's not just history; it's a mirror reflecting our own vulnerabilities.
Particularly powerful is her unflinching examination of racism and scapegoating woven throughout. Time and again, societies pinned plagues on "outsiders" including Jews during the Black Death, immigrants in colonial eras or ethnic minorities in recent crises using disease as a flimsy excuse for violence, expulsion, and murder, utterly divorced from scientific reality. Bauer doesn't shy away from these dark patterns, yet she frames them with nuance, showing how fear exploits division while urging us toward evidence-based empathy.
This book left me both enlightened and unsettled, challenging me to rethink health narratives in politics, media, and daily life. If you're fascinated by the intersections of history, psychology, and public health or just want a scientific and historical lens on today's debates, The Great Shadow is essential reading. Bauer's prose is accessible yet erudite, making complex ideas flow effortlessly.
Review of advance copy received from Edelweiss+
If we sprain an ankle, the treatment is rest and ice. If we break an arm, it must be reset and immobilized so the bones can mend. If we cut ourselves deeply, the skin should be brought back together through stitches or bandages. I think we all agree on the accepted ways to treat these and other injuries no matter our ethnicity, race, religion, or where in the world we sit in our favorite chairs to watch the big sports game. But science (biological sciences, genetics, social sciences, astrophysics, psychiatry, and every other type of science) has effectively made us forget what it’s like to be sick. Sick as in diseased rather than injured, and widespread rather than individually. The forgetfulness of a species is one of the drivers of the anti-science, anti-vaccine, and frankly anti-common sense rhetoric flying around today. This book asks and answers a lot of questions like: What did it feel like to be a woman or man struggling with illness in ancient times, in the Middle Ages, in the seventeenth century, or in 1920? When did concern for self become concern for others, and then revert back to individual apathy about public safety? And can I have a rational discussion with someone who believes that vaccines are full of microchips and autism, or believes that their god will protect them from diabetes or from a pandemic?
Overall, it’s a good book. The epilogue that looks forward has a sense of hope that I have sort of lost in the past 6 years. Here’s to hoping that next time we all do better.
Thanks to St. Martin’s Press, Macmillan Audio, Susan Wise Bauer (author), Edelweiss, and Libro.fm for providing an advance digital review copy and an advance listening copy (narrated by the wonderful Jennifer Pickens) of The Great Shadow. Their generosity does not influence my reviews in any way.
Overall, it’s a good book. The epilogue that looks forward has a sense of hope that I have sort of lost in the past 6 years. Here’s to hoping that next time we all do better.
Thanks to St. Martin’s Press, Macmillan Audio, Susan Wise Bauer (author), Edelweiss, and Libro.fm for providing an advance digital review copy and an advance listening copy (narrated by the wonderful Jennifer Pickens) of The Great Shadow. Their generosity does not influence my reviews in any way.
September 26, 2025
The topic is equally grim and fascinating as the author traces how humans react to disease — from blaming evil spirits to blaming groups of people, blaming how we live and how we pray; surely only bad people deserve to get sick, so if you’re ill, what did you do to bring it upon yourself? — as well as the slow understanding humans gained over viruses, vermin, parasites and poisons.
Written with a very approachable style it focuses on small tidbits, personalizing the stories of the people who developed drugs, who opened up the human body to try to understand why it failed, how it was affected by sickness, and showing how plagues spread. There is even a chapter on colonization and how people bring disease with them, as well as fall prey to the diseases of a new place and climate. There’s a lot here, none of it overwhelming, and written to be positive and hopeful despite the subject matter.
It also doesn’t shy away from racism, misogyny, a reliance on outdated thinking, conspiracy theories, anti-vaxxers and how we really haven’t moved on from early days of fearing bad air, angry gods, and roaming spirits cursing us with disease. If you’re interested in history, medicine, and science with an optimistic bent, you should give this book a try.
Thank you so much to Net Galley and the publisher for the ARC.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
TL;DR: A great overall summary of sickness and how it’s impacted humanity.
Source: NetGalley, thank you so much to the publisher!
Sources: This had quite a few interesting sources, a good length back section that would make for great additional reading.
Readability: I found myself flying through this, and everything was so interestingly presented.
Thoughts:
If you’ve read any medical history texts then you are going to be somewhat familiar with the path that medicine has taken over the years. This will still be a fantastic addition to your reading, as Susan Wise Bauer does a wonderful job of really showing us the impact of things like the various plagues and viruses we’ve faced in the past. If by chance this is your first medical history book - boy you’re in for a good time.
Possibly my favorite trick that our author pulls out is the setting up of narratives to parallel one another. For example she talks about her son getting Scarlet Fever and how a simple antibiotic took care of it. Yet before that existed another woman lost two sons, years apart to the same illness. It brings a note of relatability and realism to the scope to see how these would have actually effected individuals.
This is also well researched with footnotes and sources to keep you busy for days. I ate this up, was genuinely terrified at times and relieved at others (thank you modern science for a lot of great vaccines and antibodies). This is a fascinating and well drawn journey, I really recommend it for the curious.
Source: NetGalley, thank you so much to the publisher!
Sources: This had quite a few interesting sources, a good length back section that would make for great additional reading.
Readability: I found myself flying through this, and everything was so interestingly presented.
Thoughts:
If you’ve read any medical history texts then you are going to be somewhat familiar with the path that medicine has taken over the years. This will still be a fantastic addition to your reading, as Susan Wise Bauer does a wonderful job of really showing us the impact of things like the various plagues and viruses we’ve faced in the past. If by chance this is your first medical history book - boy you’re in for a good time.
Possibly my favorite trick that our author pulls out is the setting up of narratives to parallel one another. For example she talks about her son getting Scarlet Fever and how a simple antibiotic took care of it. Yet before that existed another woman lost two sons, years apart to the same illness. It brings a note of relatability and realism to the scope to see how these would have actually effected individuals.
This is also well researched with footnotes and sources to keep you busy for days. I ate this up, was genuinely terrified at times and relieved at others (thank you modern science for a lot of great vaccines and antibodies). This is a fascinating and well drawn journey, I really recommend it for the curious.
Review of advance copy received from Publisher
I don’t often review nonfiction, so bear with me. That said, The Great Shadow was a fascinating and unexpectedly immersive read. This book offers a deep dive into the history of illness and, more importantly, how humans behave in its presence.
Susan Wise Bauer does an excellent job researching the subject from both historical and scientific perspectives, weaving the two together into a clear, detailed timeline that never feels overwhelming. What stood out most to me was her focus on human behavior and psychology. Rather than treating illness as an abstract concept, she centers the lived experience—how people reacted, feared, denied, adapted, and survived.
I especially loved how she set the scene around patients struck by illness, creating a palpable atmosphere that made each period feel real and immediate. You can sense the confusion, desperation, and resilience of people facing something they could not fully understand or control. It made the history feel alive, not distant.
This is the kind of nonfiction that reads with the weight and pull of a narrative, while still being deeply informative. If you’re interested in history, medicine, or the psychology of collective human behavior, The Great Shadow is a rewarding and thought-provoking read.
Susan Wise Bauer does an excellent job researching the subject from both historical and scientific perspectives, weaving the two together into a clear, detailed timeline that never feels overwhelming. What stood out most to me was her focus on human behavior and psychology. Rather than treating illness as an abstract concept, she centers the lived experience—how people reacted, feared, denied, adapted, and survived.
I especially loved how she set the scene around patients struck by illness, creating a palpable atmosphere that made each period feel real and immediate. You can sense the confusion, desperation, and resilience of people facing something they could not fully understand or control. It made the history feel alive, not distant.
This is the kind of nonfiction that reads with the weight and pull of a narrative, while still being deeply informative. If you’re interested in history, medicine, or the psychology of collective human behavior, The Great Shadow is a rewarding and thought-provoking read.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
Long before modern medicine, people believed disease came from offended gods or spirits—and healing meant performing the right rituals to make peace with them. Then came Hippocrates, who broke from superstition and argued that illness had natural causes. Greek doctors believed health depended on balancing four bodily “humors,” so treatment focused on restoring that mix rather than curing a single disease. Though old remedies like bloodletting have vanished, the idea of purging what ails us survives in today’s detox trends and spa culture.
As Bauer points out, science has transformed medicine, but some old fears remain. We still worry about outsiders spreading disease, mistrust experts, and turn to alternative cures when science feels distant. Our anxieties have evolved—but they never really disappeared.
As this phenomenal book shows us, we are far from the complete understanding of illness. And as humans throughout history we just try our best to heal ourselves and one another.
This book was truly enlightening for me and I cannot thank Netgalley enough!
As Bauer points out, science has transformed medicine, but some old fears remain. We still worry about outsiders spreading disease, mistrust experts, and turn to alternative cures when science feels distant. Our anxieties have evolved—but they never really disappeared.
As this phenomenal book shows us, we are far from the complete understanding of illness. And as humans throughout history we just try our best to heal ourselves and one another.
This book was truly enlightening for me and I cannot thank Netgalley enough!
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
This is a powerful and stimulating examination of mankind’s attempt to understand its mortality. Focusing on the history of medicine, the myths and taboos surrounding disease and illnesses, and extrapolating how these affect our world today, the book is a marvelous and compelling read.
I especially liked how the author told the story - using real examples against the historical time as well as examining the common “thinking” of the period, we are treated to a better understanding as to why myths remain so common - religious misconceptions primarily in my view - and why people are willing to disdain science.
The sections dealing with beliefs that diseases are the results of immigrants and the excitement over the polio vaccine were of great interest to me. The former aligns with another book - Infected by Mohammad H. Zaman - showing how this untruth is spurious and untrue. I experienced the joy of the polio vaccine and the joy and freedom it gave to me and others. We need to focus on truth and not myths.
I truly enjoyed this book. It would be a great addition to anyone’s library, especially those interested in the truth about medical science.
I would like to thank NetGalley and the publisher, St. Martin’s Press, for allowing me to read this ARC.
I especially liked how the author told the story - using real examples against the historical time as well as examining the common “thinking” of the period, we are treated to a better understanding as to why myths remain so common - religious misconceptions primarily in my view - and why people are willing to disdain science.
The sections dealing with beliefs that diseases are the results of immigrants and the excitement over the polio vaccine were of great interest to me. The former aligns with another book - Infected by Mohammad H. Zaman - showing how this untruth is spurious and untrue. I experienced the joy of the polio vaccine and the joy and freedom it gave to me and others. We need to focus on truth and not myths.
I truly enjoyed this book. It would be a great addition to anyone’s library, especially those interested in the truth about medical science.
I would like to thank NetGalley and the publisher, St. Martin’s Press, for allowing me to read this ARC.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
When I saw this book available to read in advance on NetGalley, I snapped it up. I've read Susan Wise Bauer's "The Well-Trained Mind" as well as "The Story of the World" series with my children, so I knew this book on the history of sickness would be insightful and engaging. I wasn't disappointed. It is FASCINATING. I enjoyed the way Bauer juxtaposed the dramatically different ways humanity experienced the same sort of infections during different time periods. I learned a lot about how our understanding of sickness has evolved as science and medicine have advanced, sometimes unwittingly but sometimes with barriers created by the medical establishment itself, which puts a lot of the public distrust in medicine today into perspective. I also found it intriguing the way the treatment of illness moved away from its relationship to religion and yet, in a way, became its own religion. The book gives lots of context for the literature written during different time periods and makes a great addition to any historical fiction writer's bookshelf.
December 5, 2025
I have been a fan of Susan Wise Bauer since our homeschooling days. She brings common sense and critical thinking to that space that is sorely needed. We loved her Story of the World books for my son's history classes. When I saw that she was writing a book about germs and illness, I knew I wanted to read what she had to say.
This book is a fantastic overview of pandemics, outbreaks, germs, and how they shaped society and the world we live in today. This is an overview, so don't expect a deep dive into any one area, but I learned a lot about historical illnesses and came away with a deep, deep appreciation for the times we live in and the wonder of modern medicine.
This is for anyone who loves history or enjoys putting the pieces together about how we got where we are today. Check out her Substack for more on this subject!
Thanks to NetGalley and St Martin's Press for an advanced copy of this book.
This book is a fantastic overview of pandemics, outbreaks, germs, and how they shaped society and the world we live in today. This is an overview, so don't expect a deep dive into any one area, but I learned a lot about historical illnesses and came away with a deep, deep appreciation for the times we live in and the wonder of modern medicine.
This is for anyone who loves history or enjoys putting the pieces together about how we got where we are today. Check out her Substack for more on this subject!
Thanks to NetGalley and St Martin's Press for an advanced copy of this book.
November 2, 2025
I'm not quite sure how to rate The Great Shadow. I mainly read non-fiction to learn things, and I intentionally avoid books I perceive will be inflammatory or divisively political. I like my history presented with an objective (or as objective as possible) lens. I don't think I got that here. The thesis felt bifurcated, contradictory, and inconsistent. I've read some of Bauer's works before and used curricula from The Well-Trained Mind Press to inform my lessons for students; the writer of this book did not seem the same person to me. Either I've not read enough of Bauer's writing outside of educational materials, or there's been a paradigm shift I didn't recognize until now. At least the grammar and mechanics were stellar, I guess.
My thanks to St. Martin's Press via NetGalley for the DRC, for which I willingly give my own, honest opinion
My thanks to St. Martin's Press via NetGalley for the DRC, for which I willingly give my own, honest opinion
December 5, 2025
thank you to netgalley and st. martin’s press for a copy of this arc in exchange for an honest review. this book was very informative and entertaining. i went in wanting a book about the history of medicine and how illness has shaped us today, and i definitely got that. i will say that i thought the writing was pretty clunky at times, and i didn’t love that so many chapters started with a pov along the lines of “you wake up on a fall morning 3000 years ago with a scratchy throat and the priest is away so now you’re afraid you’re going to die.” i realize that the point was to emphasize how people would have felt at different points in time with different illnesses and how that illness would have been treated throughout time, but i feel like there could have been a better way to do that that felt less disjointed. overall, an informative read!
September 24, 2025
What a spectacular book. I loved it.
This covers a deep dive into the history of illness and what causes it and how humans have tried to combat the illness/sickness.
I loved the story from Gods to the body to germs. Each step of the way, the author introduces REAL people and how they tried to combat the sickness or illness.
This was a heavy read, but not a laborious read. I was enthralled with it, and found that the author was candid, and not too technical.
This book is for anyone who wants to learn the history of illness, how humans have tried to learn about illness, and finally how to combat illness.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for this honest review.
This covers a deep dive into the history of illness and what causes it and how humans have tried to combat the illness/sickness.
I loved the story from Gods to the body to germs. Each step of the way, the author introduces REAL people and how they tried to combat the sickness or illness.
This was a heavy read, but not a laborious read. I was enthralled with it, and found that the author was candid, and not too technical.
This book is for anyone who wants to learn the history of illness, how humans have tried to learn about illness, and finally how to combat illness.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for this honest review.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
This book is a great look into how difficult disease was for our ancestors. It gave me an appreciation for modern medicine and understandings of how it all works. This book also answered questions I've idly wondered about when it came to what ancient people believed and thought about illness. The short little stories detailing people dealing with illness helped humanize people of the past and make it easier to picture how it would have been to be them. The writing is very approachable and kept me hooked wanting to know more. I greatly recommend this to anyone interested in the history of how disease and illness shaped human history.
Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for giving me an ARC.
Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for giving me an ARC.
October 22, 2025
This was a thought provoking examination of how sickness has impacted human civilization through the centuries. By using human examples of how diseases as simple as a cold often lead to fatality in early civilizations the author clearly conveyed how fragile life could be. Doctors as we know them did not exist, and sufferers had to take care of themselves, or hope that someone with herbal knowledge could provide some help..
The rise of modern medicine through the discovery of antibiotics, modern sanitary techniques and most importantly vaccines dramatically rediuced the toll of diseases. The author clearly conveyed a dramatic drop off in childhood death after vaccines became available. In these times, as vaccine skepticism is on the rise, this history is especialy important and should be more widely acknowledged and respected.. A reader can find echoes of the superstition and suspicion that were expressed in history towards vaccine skepticism in our times.
Highly recommended.
The rise of modern medicine through the discovery of antibiotics, modern sanitary techniques and most importantly vaccines dramatically rediuced the toll of diseases. The author clearly conveyed a dramatic drop off in childhood death after vaccines became available. In these times, as vaccine skepticism is on the rise, this history is especialy important and should be more widely acknowledged and respected.. A reader can find echoes of the superstition and suspicion that were expressed in history towards vaccine skepticism in our times.
Highly recommended.
December 26, 2025
Thank you to NetGalley and St Martin’s Press for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
A tough one to get through only because the subject matter is timely and rough and hard to swallow sometimes. A really captivating written book regardless of the heavy subject matter. I could only read a chapter or so at a time so took me a while to get through, but still glad I read it. The timeline it follows and the narrative built was clear and informative. Overall one of the better nonfiction books I’ve read this year.
A tough one to get through only because the subject matter is timely and rough and hard to swallow sometimes. A really captivating written book regardless of the heavy subject matter. I could only read a chapter or so at a time so took me a while to get through, but still glad I read it. The timeline it follows and the narrative built was clear and informative. Overall one of the better nonfiction books I’ve read this year.
November 14, 2025
THANK YOU TO GOODREADS GIVEAWAYS FOR MY ARC <333
This book was so informative and entertaining to read; I really appreciate how accessible the writing is, because you can learn so much but it isn't pretentious or stuffy. In fact, the writing was almost *too* personable (literally my only complaint is that I didn't like how she would start most chapters, and even within chapters sometimes, doing this whole bit of... it's 3000 years ago and you wake up with a sore shoulder and yada yada its some disease and this is hard for you because it's 3,000 years ago and you have different responsibilities and quality of life than you do in 2025.... I just did not like type of writing at all, because, duh, I know all these things; I'm reading this book to learn things I don't already know. I know that 3,000 years ago life was different than it is now. It would have sufficed for her to just say "3,000 years ago someone would wake up with a sore shoulder and it would be a crazy disease." I can use my own imagination, I don't need this juvenile role-playing. But once I got over that and accepted my annoyance with this type of writing and acknowledged that I'm probably just not very fun, I had no complaints about this book).
I can't even imagine how ambitious of a project it must be to decide to write the history of sickness in humanity. Yet somehow, Susan Wise Bauer does an excellent job writing a history that feels complete without making it too long or tedious (at 304 pages, I actually would have enjoyed another couple chapters so she could have made it longer, but that's really not a complaint at all). I just am so impressed by how easy of a read this was, and how engaged I was the whole time. I think she does a really robust job of detailing how we as humans have understood and tried to alleviate illness throughout history, and how the different ways we understand illness are sooooo indicative of the times we are living in. I have always loved medical anthropology, and i think this was a great book of that. I really would recommend this to anyone unfamiliar with the history of illness. I know nothing about medicine and also nothing about history lol so this book was soooooo insightful, and so enjoyable to read.
This book was so informative and entertaining to read; I really appreciate how accessible the writing is, because you can learn so much but it isn't pretentious or stuffy. In fact, the writing was almost *too* personable (literally my only complaint is that I didn't like how she would start most chapters, and even within chapters sometimes, doing this whole bit of... it's 3000 years ago and you wake up with a sore shoulder and yada yada its some disease and this is hard for you because it's 3,000 years ago and you have different responsibilities and quality of life than you do in 2025.... I just did not like type of writing at all, because, duh, I know all these things; I'm reading this book to learn things I don't already know. I know that 3,000 years ago life was different than it is now. It would have sufficed for her to just say "3,000 years ago someone would wake up with a sore shoulder and it would be a crazy disease." I can use my own imagination, I don't need this juvenile role-playing. But once I got over that and accepted my annoyance with this type of writing and acknowledged that I'm probably just not very fun, I had no complaints about this book).
I can't even imagine how ambitious of a project it must be to decide to write the history of sickness in humanity. Yet somehow, Susan Wise Bauer does an excellent job writing a history that feels complete without making it too long or tedious (at 304 pages, I actually would have enjoyed another couple chapters so she could have made it longer, but that's really not a complaint at all). I just am so impressed by how easy of a read this was, and how engaged I was the whole time. I think she does a really robust job of detailing how we as humans have understood and tried to alleviate illness throughout history, and how the different ways we understand illness are sooooo indicative of the times we are living in. I have always loved medical anthropology, and i think this was a great book of that. I really would recommend this to anyone unfamiliar with the history of illness. I know nothing about medicine and also nothing about history lol so this book was soooooo insightful, and so enjoyable to read.
November 2, 2025
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The story-telling is great and the writing is clever and clear, with all the science very well explained. I found the stories compelling and some of the passages were so good, they were worthy of re-reading. I also particularly liked the interesting takes on infectious diseases. Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for the advance reader copy.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
The Great Shadow was a time-traveling adventure through the history of disease and humanity's perspective on wellness. Is it war or dis-ease? Is it fighting against or finding what went missing? Lots of questions, answers, insights, and ponderables as is expected in a Wise Bauer book. Engaging even though hefty in topic and length.
I received an ARC; this is my honest review.
I received an ARC; this is my honest review.
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September 25, 2025Definitely made me think and realize I need to change something in my life.
October 27, 2025
The Great Shadow is an interesting look at humanity's view of illness/disease, from prehistory to modern times (up to and including COVID).
December 16, 2025
This is a comprehensive and interesting (albeit heartbreaking) book. Especially compelling and unique is the author’s choice to write from the perspective of people living through serious illness. By the middle of the book, I couldn’t put it down. It was inspiring and informative to read about past medical advancements. It is also quite insightful at times (e.g., about the connection between past contagious illness and the wide availability of disposable paper and plastic products today).
The book also often does a good job of capturing nuance (e.g., it recognizes that some people did die in early inoculation efforts, even though modern vaccinations are incredibly life-saving and wonderful innovations). However, sometimes it went too far and ended up with disjointed messaging (e.g., about vaccine mandates) that felt off-putting to me.
It was still well-written overall, and I’m impressed with the amount of research that clearly went into this book.
Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s for the free eARC. I post this review with my honest opinions.
The book also often does a good job of capturing nuance (e.g., it recognizes that some people did die in early inoculation efforts, even though modern vaccinations are incredibly life-saving and wonderful innovations). However, sometimes it went too far and ended up with disjointed messaging (e.g., about vaccine mandates) that felt off-putting to me.
It was still well-written overall, and I’m impressed with the amount of research that clearly went into this book.
Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s for the free eARC. I post this review with my honest opinions.
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