Epidemics: Hate and Compassion from the Plague of Athens to AIDS

by Samuel K. Cohn Jr.

By investigating thousands of descriptions of epidemics reaching back before the fifth-century-BCE Plague of Athens to the distrust and violence that erupted with Ebola in 2014, Epidemics challenges a dominant hypothesis in the study of epidemics, that invariably across time and space, epidemics provoked hatred, blaming of the "other", and victimizing bearers of epidemic diseases, particularly when diseases were mysterious, without known cures or preventive measures, as with AIDS during the last two decades of the twentieth century.

However, scholars and public intellectuals, especially post-AIDS, have missed a fundamental aspect of the history of epidemics. Instead of sparking hatred and blame, this study traces epidemics' socio-psychological consequences across time and discovers a radically different picture: that epidemic diseases have more often unified societies across class, race, ethnicity, and religion, spurring self-sacrifice and compassion.

Genres: History, Medicine, Audiobook, Nonfiction

656 pages, Hardcover

Published June 12, 2018

About the author

Samuel Kline Cohn Jr., is Professor of Medieval History at the University of Glasgow.

Reviews

[J.Istsfor Manity · Rating 3 out of 5]

an exhaustive — and exhausting — survey or pandemics and epidemics back thru recorded history... all as refracted through the limited lens of either compassionate help or scapegoating... really chock-full of great historical factoids and at its best when elucidating how the more times change, the more they remain the same — especially, re: finding others to blame (oh, so topical there!)... but often, all too often reads like a dry ph.d. thesis... still worth the near 700 page effort... just once, not reread material, unless “referencing”....

[Andrea Hickman Walker · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting, but crams in far more information than necessary.

Reread during 2020 pandemic lockdown, and it's definitely more interesting and easier to relate to in these circumstances.

[Andy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is great serious non-fiction. The author is debunking a widespread myth with a plethora of researched facts. Unfortunately, this makes for a terrible audiobook. Repetitive stuff that should just be off in a corner in a table or something is instead read out in detail over and over.

I'm not fact-checking all the medieval history in here, but I'm inclined to believe Cohn's thesis that epidemics generally do NOT bring out the worst in people. A more readable book along the same lines is Rebecca Solnit's meditation on what people do after disasters like earthquakes.
A Paradise Built in Hell: The Extraordinary Communities That Arise in Disaster

[M Delea · Rating 5 out of 5]

Incredibly thorough and detailed, like a graduate class in epidemics. I read this during lock-down, and saw so much from the past repeating itself. If the author and publisher re-issue this, I hope the author will add a chapter on Covid.

[AttackGirl · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had a hard time finishing this book which normally I can do in a day or two. This book took a week. I started over; back to the beginning several times and when close to finishing went back and started again. Why well because I think the focus of the book gets lost several times and you ask yourself what is the author trying to tell me about. What is the book about what exactly, then you just read the title to refresh your memory and then it’s easy to follow along… well no.

Anyway its a good timeline which is based on article reviews of the times and we all know how fake news or targeting reporting can go, so what is the real truth then well just think about all the hate and compassion you experiences or were witness to during covid and even now as they make laws forbidding you to even discuss the vaccinations. Surely in the future they will tell everyone the leader of the “free” world told everyone to gargle with bleach when in fact that is a lie and complete misrepresentation of the facts.

I did like how the author discussed the “renaming” of VD… too funny and how much hate is around syphilis when all I could think about what watching the movie OUT OF AFRICA, and when it got to cholera well my heart was breaking recalling LOVE IN TIME OF CHOLERA. To imagine people wanted to reduce the population and were intentionally “SMEARING” door knobs and areas in an attempt to kill people and aren’t we hearing all of that NOW!

Anyway the book is way to long, way way way to long and it seems was not really explicit in describing what hate is and how it is manifested out onto the people and what exactly were they smearing and what exactly is Cholera? If we are talking about hate perhaps he should have discussed IGNORANCE as blood soaked mattress made there way out of the clinic and MSF were being murdered for cannibalism. Anyway the book is worth reading but will definitely play with your emotional state.

Don’t we have proof doctors experimented with black soldiers and syphilis, African and ____…. On and on it goes. Is there really an opioid “Epidemic” and isn’t the govt really causing it by taking away regulated medications people have been on for years… opps today no meds sorry but the local border crosser just brought you some fentanyl made in the basement…. Sorry not the same dose that is in the ambulance butttt we need another venue to exercise our military budget and the world is getting tired of US causing trouble so we plan to use the military to fight DRUGS because that has been working so well since….. NIXON who also started the EPA and …. Well just look at those “programs”