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The Plague Cycle: The Unending War Between Humanity and Infectious Disease
A vivid, sweeping, and “fact-filled” (Booklist, starred review) history of mankind’s battles with infectious disease that “contextualizes the COVID-19 pandemic” (Publishers Weekly)—for readers of the #1 New York Times bestsellers Yuval Harari’s Sapiens and John Barry’s The Great Influenza.For four thousand years, the size and vitality of cities, economies, and empires were heavily determined by infection. Striking humanity in waves, the cycle of plagues set the tempo of civilizational growth and decline, since common response to the threat was exclusion—quarantining the sick or keeping them out. But the unprecedented hygiene and medical revolutions of the past two centuries have allowed humanity to free itself from the hold of epidemic cycles—resulting in an urbanized, globalized, and unimaginably wealthy world. However, our development has lately become precarious. Climate and population fluctuations and factors such as global trade have left us more vulnerable than ever to newly emerging plagues. Greater global cooperation toward sustainable health is urgently required—such as the international efforts to manufacture and distribute a COVID-19 vaccine—with millions of lives and trillions of dollars at stake. “A timely, lucid look at the role of pandemics in history” (Kirkus Reviews), The Plague Cycle reveals the relationship between civilization, globalization, prosperity, and infectious disease over the past five millennia. It harnesses history, economics, and public health, and charts humanity’s remarkable progress, providing a fascinating and astute look at the cyclical nature of infectious disease.
320 pages, Hardcover
First published January 19, 2021
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June 1, 2021
When Thomas Malthus published his famous essay “On the Principle of Population” in 1798, Alexander von Humboldt was 29 years old and had not yet embarked on the explorations that would later earn him the epithet “Father of Ecology.” Malthus’essay proposed that whereas population growth was cyclical, agricultural productivity growth was arithmetic. This disparity inevitably set limits on population size through famine and its consequences – disease and violence. Historically, population growth was cyclical.
Author Charles Kenny never minimizes Malthus' influence on economic theory. Instead, he applies his own expertise in history and economics to reassess Malthus' ideas. [I]n the years that preceded his analysis, history broadly lined up with the facts: populations rose or declined as circumstances changed, but the average person planet-wide consumed so little that they lived considerably below the poverty line of today's poorest nations.”(p.5) (Historically, there was no “obesity problem”).
The 14th century provided the best example of Malthus' population cycle. “For perhaps the 1st and only time in Northern European history, the Malthusian constant of land availability threatened to become a major factor in determining death rates.” (p.41) Land availability, however, was only a proximal factor. The Black Death wiped out on the average 50% of Europe's urban population. Agricultural productivity declined because because of a labor decline and disruption of trade routes for food distribution. This is how Kenny transforms Malthus' population cycle into the plague cycle. In short he argues that population growth has repeatedly been flattened by disease.
His comprehensive narrative is bolstered by copious bibliographic footnotes. Disease decimated Athens in the fifth century, the Antonine Plague which swept through the Roman Empire during Marcus Aurelius' reign, and the Plague of 542CE which contributed to the collapse of the Byzantine Empire during Justinian's reign are described. Of special interest to me was his claim that Napoleon's army was defeated by disease. As it slogged through Poland's marshes it was already starving, and easily decimated by typhus, a bacterial affliction transmitted by fleas, lice and mites. Two thirds of Napoleon's fighting force was either killed or incapacitated before even encountering the Russian army and retreating in the face of the brutal Russian winter.
Kenny reveals other interesting facts about the history of combatting disease. Edward Jenner developed the smallpox vaccine around 1796. However, as early as 1549 the Chinese were practicing variolation – in effect infecting people with a weakened form of the virus (although they based the practice on guesswork and knew nothing of viruses or the body's defense mechanisms). In 1714 a Royal Society paper described a similar procedure practiced in the Ottoman Empire. The information filtered down to members of the British nobility through word of mouth from the wife of the British ambassador to the Ottoman court.
Even before vaccines, improved sanitation was an effective inhibitor of disease. Joseph Bazalgette is not exactly a household name. However, he is the engineer who planned and oversaw the London sewage system which deposited waste downstream rather than directly into the Thames which supplied drinking water to London. Of course, Parliament only authorized the money for this project in 1858 when they themselves could no longer endure the stench from the river, a problem that had festered for well over a decade.
Kenny optimistically points to 20th century successes against disease, despite our encounter with Covid-19. Medical research and improved sanitation are obvious health priorities. Global initiatives such as the World Health Organization and the Gates Foundation have disseminated technical expertise and supplies. All of this is true, but I question whether we have the will to utilize these instruments. The anti-vaxer movement is far more entrenched than he believes. He places much of the blame on misleading medical research such as Andrew Wakefield’s autism claims published in The Lancet. However, his remedy of legally mandating vaccinations is a non-starter, at least in the libertarian climate of the United States. We are not far removed from the late Victorians he cites, who complained about the “despotic” medical profession.
He chides the “neo-Malthusians” concerned with the carrying capacity of the planet.” (p.235) I would argue that the “neo-Malthusian” view focuses on sustainability, rather than merely carrying capacity. Sustainability requires an understanding that resources are finite. Sustainability requires a candid assessment of long-term costs weighed against short-term profit. Carrying capacity should be a matter of concern. The solutions we have chosen – factory farming, deforestation, and environmental pollution are not sustainable. For Malthus the world was defined by urban and rural spheres. Alexander von Humboldt, whom I opened this review with, understood that the world was linked by interconnected spheres which included ecosystems that included but were not limited to humans.
Author Charles Kenny never minimizes Malthus' influence on economic theory. Instead, he applies his own expertise in history and economics to reassess Malthus' ideas. [I]n the years that preceded his analysis, history broadly lined up with the facts: populations rose or declined as circumstances changed, but the average person planet-wide consumed so little that they lived considerably below the poverty line of today's poorest nations.”(p.5) (Historically, there was no “obesity problem”).
The 14th century provided the best example of Malthus' population cycle. “For perhaps the 1st and only time in Northern European history, the Malthusian constant of land availability threatened to become a major factor in determining death rates.” (p.41) Land availability, however, was only a proximal factor. The Black Death wiped out on the average 50% of Europe's urban population. Agricultural productivity declined because because of a labor decline and disruption of trade routes for food distribution. This is how Kenny transforms Malthus' population cycle into the plague cycle. In short he argues that population growth has repeatedly been flattened by disease.
His comprehensive narrative is bolstered by copious bibliographic footnotes. Disease decimated Athens in the fifth century, the Antonine Plague which swept through the Roman Empire during Marcus Aurelius' reign, and the Plague of 542CE which contributed to the collapse of the Byzantine Empire during Justinian's reign are described. Of special interest to me was his claim that Napoleon's army was defeated by disease. As it slogged through Poland's marshes it was already starving, and easily decimated by typhus, a bacterial affliction transmitted by fleas, lice and mites. Two thirds of Napoleon's fighting force was either killed or incapacitated before even encountering the Russian army and retreating in the face of the brutal Russian winter.
Kenny reveals other interesting facts about the history of combatting disease. Edward Jenner developed the smallpox vaccine around 1796. However, as early as 1549 the Chinese were practicing variolation – in effect infecting people with a weakened form of the virus (although they based the practice on guesswork and knew nothing of viruses or the body's defense mechanisms). In 1714 a Royal Society paper described a similar procedure practiced in the Ottoman Empire. The information filtered down to members of the British nobility through word of mouth from the wife of the British ambassador to the Ottoman court.
Even before vaccines, improved sanitation was an effective inhibitor of disease. Joseph Bazalgette is not exactly a household name. However, he is the engineer who planned and oversaw the London sewage system which deposited waste downstream rather than directly into the Thames which supplied drinking water to London. Of course, Parliament only authorized the money for this project in 1858 when they themselves could no longer endure the stench from the river, a problem that had festered for well over a decade.
Kenny optimistically points to 20th century successes against disease, despite our encounter with Covid-19. Medical research and improved sanitation are obvious health priorities. Global initiatives such as the World Health Organization and the Gates Foundation have disseminated technical expertise and supplies. All of this is true, but I question whether we have the will to utilize these instruments. The anti-vaxer movement is far more entrenched than he believes. He places much of the blame on misleading medical research such as Andrew Wakefield’s autism claims published in The Lancet. However, his remedy of legally mandating vaccinations is a non-starter, at least in the libertarian climate of the United States. We are not far removed from the late Victorians he cites, who complained about the “despotic” medical profession.
He chides the “neo-Malthusians” concerned with the carrying capacity of the planet.” (p.235) I would argue that the “neo-Malthusian” view focuses on sustainability, rather than merely carrying capacity. Sustainability requires an understanding that resources are finite. Sustainability requires a candid assessment of long-term costs weighed against short-term profit. Carrying capacity should be a matter of concern. The solutions we have chosen – factory farming, deforestation, and environmental pollution are not sustainable. For Malthus the world was defined by urban and rural spheres. Alexander von Humboldt, whom I opened this review with, understood that the world was linked by interconnected spheres which included ecosystems that included but were not limited to humans.
November 17, 2020
Excellent look at pandemics
I loved this book. It has everything I want in non-fiction: politics, economics, history, and of course some science. The science however is very well explained. Kenny tells a riveting story, in plain language. I found the book hard to put down, especially since it provides context for the current COVID-19 pandemic. I recommend this book for anyone interested in history or medicine and especially for those interested in both.
Disclosure: I received an advance reader copy of this book via Netgalley for review purposes.
I loved this book. It has everything I want in non-fiction: politics, economics, history, and of course some science. The science however is very well explained. Kenny tells a riveting story, in plain language. I found the book hard to put down, especially since it provides context for the current COVID-19 pandemic. I recommend this book for anyone interested in history or medicine and especially for those interested in both.
Disclosure: I received an advance reader copy of this book via Netgalley for review purposes.
August 12, 2021
A little over 220 years ago, Thomas Malthus theorized that whenever general living conditions improved, particularly when the food supply increased, the human population would also increase, to a point where the increased food supply would not be enough to feed all the extra people. This would cause famine, disease, and war to kill off the excess population. In The Plague Cycle, author Charles Kenny references Malthus's theory frequently to argue that in fact Malthus was wrong, mainly because we found ways to combat disease, which throughout history has killed far more people than famine or war. One of the downsides of this success, however, is that we have forgotten just how deadly disease can be, and we have let down our guard.
Kenny is not a journalist, historian, or medical professional; he is an economist and a specialist in international development. As a result, this book is partly a history of the effects of infectious disease on human society and partly a policy prescription for how to ensure that we maintain the upper hand. In the early chapters, Kenny covers ground that I have read before, outlining how infectious diseases were often key factors in boom and bust cycles throughout history. Much as Malthus had observed, innovations in agriculture led to more food, which led to the growth of cities, which led to overcrowding, which led to plagues and mass death. Furthermore, European explorers took their diseases with them, and depopulated entire continents. The effects of such tragedies continue to be felt by indigenous peoples around the world.
In the middle section of the book, Kenny discusses the three main ways we learned to handle infectious disease: exclusion (quarantines and physical distancing), sanitation, and medicine (vaccines and antibiotics). He then argues that our success against disease is a major contributor to today's generally high standards of living and our ability to live in large, vibrant, economically efficient cities without suffering mass die-offs.
In the final few chapters, Kenny argues that we are misusing and even abusing some of our best weapons (over-sanitizing our children and over-using antibiotics, for example), thereby allowing drug-resistant diseases to evolve that may threaten to send us back to a world similar to that of Malthus. He then engages in what felt like finger-wagging chastisement of the developed world, urging us to spend more resources helping the world's poorest people instead of focusing on protecting our own wealth. In particular, Kenny argues against COVID-19 lockdowns and border closures for causing more harm, in the form of economic damage to disadvantaged communities, than they prevent. It appears he may have put the final touches on this book in the summer of 2020, before the second, third, and subsequent waves of COVID-19 struck in various places around the world, and it became more clear that in fact lockdowns and travel restrictions were helpful. I understand his perspective, but I think the tone of his message could have been less accusatory and more persuasive.
The writing is clear and straightforward, although there are sometimes a lot of statistics and facts about disease prevalence, mortality rates, and so on. A few charts or graphs might have made these sections a bit less tedious.
I think it is good to be reminded just how deadly and impactful infectious diseases have been, and it is worth celebrating all that we have achieved to reduce the effects of such diseases. I'm not sure, though, what the average reader is going to be able to do with Kenny's closing arguments for better international aid.
Kenny is not a journalist, historian, or medical professional; he is an economist and a specialist in international development. As a result, this book is partly a history of the effects of infectious disease on human society and partly a policy prescription for how to ensure that we maintain the upper hand. In the early chapters, Kenny covers ground that I have read before, outlining how infectious diseases were often key factors in boom and bust cycles throughout history. Much as Malthus had observed, innovations in agriculture led to more food, which led to the growth of cities, which led to overcrowding, which led to plagues and mass death. Furthermore, European explorers took their diseases with them, and depopulated entire continents. The effects of such tragedies continue to be felt by indigenous peoples around the world.
In the middle section of the book, Kenny discusses the three main ways we learned to handle infectious disease: exclusion (quarantines and physical distancing), sanitation, and medicine (vaccines and antibiotics). He then argues that our success against disease is a major contributor to today's generally high standards of living and our ability to live in large, vibrant, economically efficient cities without suffering mass die-offs.
In the final few chapters, Kenny argues that we are misusing and even abusing some of our best weapons (over-sanitizing our children and over-using antibiotics, for example), thereby allowing drug-resistant diseases to evolve that may threaten to send us back to a world similar to that of Malthus. He then engages in what felt like finger-wagging chastisement of the developed world, urging us to spend more resources helping the world's poorest people instead of focusing on protecting our own wealth. In particular, Kenny argues against COVID-19 lockdowns and border closures for causing more harm, in the form of economic damage to disadvantaged communities, than they prevent. It appears he may have put the final touches on this book in the summer of 2020, before the second, third, and subsequent waves of COVID-19 struck in various places around the world, and it became more clear that in fact lockdowns and travel restrictions were helpful. I understand his perspective, but I think the tone of his message could have been less accusatory and more persuasive.
The writing is clear and straightforward, although there are sometimes a lot of statistics and facts about disease prevalence, mortality rates, and so on. A few charts or graphs might have made these sections a bit less tedious.
I think it is good to be reminded just how deadly and impactful infectious diseases have been, and it is worth celebrating all that we have achieved to reduce the effects of such diseases. I'm not sure, though, what the average reader is going to be able to do with Kenny's closing arguments for better international aid.
January 23, 2022
It's only January 23rd, and I've read three books back-to-back that involve pandemics or diseases. I need to check myself before I wreck myself, ha. The other two were fiction, but this one is a straightforward nonfiction about the effect infectious diseases had (and have) on humanity. It's a fairly short book for such a broad topic, but it's effective! It spends less time on specific diseases or pandemics as other books I've read in the past, and instead focuses on the effects of infectious diseases in general.
I appreciated the broad strokes of the information presented - by not focusing on any one disease or time period, it becomes much easier to see how humanity's development has been affected by disease. COVID aside, we're living in a time unprecedented by how much we've freed ourselves from infectious disease ... but the last section of the book is a sobering reminder of how our best weapons (especially the overuse of antibiotics) are quickly becoming catalysts for undoing so much of our progress. I found the author's examination of how we tend to react to infection disease (too late, too reactionary, and too out of proportion) vs how we SHOULD act (more emphasis on prevention, education, and basic sanitation and medical capabilities that would remove or greatly reduce the later cost of acute outbreaks) eye-opening. Pandemics and disease is a sensitive subject right now, but I'd still encourage everyone to read this.
I appreciated the broad strokes of the information presented - by not focusing on any one disease or time period, it becomes much easier to see how humanity's development has been affected by disease. COVID aside, we're living in a time unprecedented by how much we've freed ourselves from infectious disease ... but the last section of the book is a sobering reminder of how our best weapons (especially the overuse of antibiotics) are quickly becoming catalysts for undoing so much of our progress. I found the author's examination of how we tend to react to infection disease (too late, too reactionary, and too out of proportion) vs how we SHOULD act (more emphasis on prevention, education, and basic sanitation and medical capabilities that would remove or greatly reduce the later cost of acute outbreaks) eye-opening. Pandemics and disease is a sensitive subject right now, but I'd still encourage everyone to read this.
January 1, 2021
Perfect last book in 2020, a year of the plague. Here you will find every possible information about infectious diseases, a topic that suddenly became in vogue: from how microbes and viruses influenced human history to the inventions that allowed us to fight back to a warning what can happen if we won’t change our behavior towards antibiotics and global health care. It also mentions Covid-19 and its aftermath, but this knowledge is essential not only because of this recent pestilence.
If you are interested in the topic and devoured as many books about infectious diseases as I, you rather won’t find much new information here. Nonetheless, it is an enjoyable reading and a neat summary of many different aspects of this topic. And if you are new to this and just want to get some orientation, it is a perfect beginner's guide.
Thanks to the publisher, Scribner, and NetGalley for the advance copy of this book.
If you are interested in the topic and devoured as many books about infectious diseases as I, you rather won’t find much new information here. Nonetheless, it is an enjoyable reading and a neat summary of many different aspects of this topic. And if you are new to this and just want to get some orientation, it is a perfect beginner's guide.
Thanks to the publisher, Scribner, and NetGalley for the advance copy of this book.
September 19, 2021
Well sourced, and an excellent overview, giving the whole the topic of infectious diseases and healthcare infrastructure throughout human history. As a thorough international social policy statement, it's brilliant. If, say, you're a newly elected politician who needs to come up to speed on the whole thing quickly, this is your book. Or if you're curious now, but you’re unlikely to read more than one book on plagues in general. Not recommended so much if you're already well up on the historic details of different diseases or on the medical industrial complex in the US or on healthcare and the history of NGOs in lower-income nations, although it is still a good synthesis.
Read for Plagues and Diseases
Library copy
Read for Plagues and Diseases
Library copy
February 17, 2021
An informative yet somewhat dry overview of the history of pandemics, focusing less on the science of disease origin, spread, and containment / cure, and more on the human policy response (or lack thereof). I'd recommend this 2021 title as a quick primer for readers seeking an introduction to the global context of COVID-19 or a general understanding of how earlier societies have faced similar crises, but it's lacking the level of granular detail that would make for a definitive text on the subject.
I also think author Charles Kenny plays a little too safe with discussions of the current coronavirus and other recent outbreaks, highlighting certain management decisions as effective or not without ever naming the actors involved. He cites studies finding that most 2020 border control / travel ban edicts only pushed the local infection timeline out zero to two weeks, for instance, but doesn't mention which politicians or parties favored that move and which saw it -- apparently correctly -- as empty xenophobic posturing. This reads as an attempt to stay apolitical, but it's silly when contemporary audiences can read through the lines and will be frustrating in the future when that necessary degree of background knowledge is reduced. You can't really be neutral when evaluating which actions or source ideologies actually work as intended, and the effort here feels disingenuous.
[Content warning for discussion of racism and antisemitism, including pogroms.]
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I also think author Charles Kenny plays a little too safe with discussions of the current coronavirus and other recent outbreaks, highlighting certain management decisions as effective or not without ever naming the actors involved. He cites studies finding that most 2020 border control / travel ban edicts only pushed the local infection timeline out zero to two weeks, for instance, but doesn't mention which politicians or parties favored that move and which saw it -- apparently correctly -- as empty xenophobic posturing. This reads as an attempt to stay apolitical, but it's silly when contemporary audiences can read through the lines and will be frustrating in the future when that necessary degree of background knowledge is reduced. You can't really be neutral when evaluating which actions or source ideologies actually work as intended, and the effort here feels disingenuous.
[Content warning for discussion of racism and antisemitism, including pogroms.]
Find me on Patreon | Goodreads | Blog | Twitter
May 7, 2024
Finally, a great, non-biased book on epidemiology, and human history combined. TOTALLY DIFFERENT to "Pathogenesis", a book with a great name but with a stupid content.
This book begins with evolution and the EEA (environment of ecological adaptation), and then, history as we know it. It has this way of describing historical events in an epidemiological context in such a clear way, you are able to understand conquests and coup d'etats based on evidence. Simply wonderful.
This book was recommended by Gad Saad., and I wish I had found out about this book before buying Pathogenesis. In this book you are going to understand the impact of medicine, science, vaccines, and learn the bad stuff from conspiracy theories and what we need to do as a globalized world. The book is up-to-date, because it shares a light on the Covid 19 pandemic, and explains a lot about the anti-vaccine movement, that really caused the death of many children.
Really interesting book, and totally recommended.
This book begins with evolution and the EEA (environment of ecological adaptation), and then, history as we know it. It has this way of describing historical events in an epidemiological context in such a clear way, you are able to understand conquests and coup d'etats based on evidence. Simply wonderful.
This book was recommended by Gad Saad., and I wish I had found out about this book before buying Pathogenesis. In this book you are going to understand the impact of medicine, science, vaccines, and learn the bad stuff from conspiracy theories and what we need to do as a globalized world. The book is up-to-date, because it shares a light on the Covid 19 pandemic, and explains a lot about the anti-vaccine movement, that really caused the death of many children.
Really interesting book, and totally recommended.
July 19, 2021
What a book to be reading in lockdown! But this was an interesting dive into some of the infectious diseases that have plagued humanity for centuries and how they came and went and the impacts they've had on human development. I've always sort of loved reading about the gory details of diseases and illnesses and thus this was a fascinating read for me. From the classic pestilences of the black death, typhus, small pox, measles, and cholera to our new friends SARS, MERS, zika, ebola and our best friend COVID19, this book charts the way infectious diseases evolved and spread around the globe and the science of stopping them. My only slight criticism is that it's evident this book was published on the back of the COVID19 epidemic (published in January 2021) which is a risky business - already, only 6 months later, a lot of the comments made about COVID have started to feel dated and unreflective of our current reality. But that just goes to show how quickly the pandemic continues to develop, and the risks of trying to cash in on an ongoing event. That said I found the rest of the book enjoyable and informative. Recommend to anyone who enjoys history and disease.
September 17, 2021
An outstanding read, with one caveat: it was probably too soon to include anything on the CODIV-19 pandemic, since we are still in the midst of it and the information--even the virus--is changing on a daily basis.
Highly recommended!
Highly recommended!
March 23, 2021
S T I C K • W I T H • ME
I know, a book about infectious disease during a pandemic? No thanks. But it’s not what you think and is actually pretty interesting!
The Plague Cycle by Charles Kenny examines the topic of infectious diseases and their relationship with population growth, the development of civilizations, colonialism, exploration, warfare, diet, technology/innovation, feminism, the sexual revolution, economy/trade, poverty, and violence. Although the ideas were at times repetitive (a major gripe of mine with many non-fiction books) and although some of these ideas seemed to be purported as causal in nature when they are likely more correlated, it was nonetheless intriguing to explore the interconnectedness of these ideas. We often consider our experience of things like this within our own small bubble, so viewing infectious disease through a much wider lens in time and space was thought-provoking. Learning of the history behind the development of some of the most world-changing vaccines was also fascinating, although the ethical violations involved were horrifying to say the least!
I think the saddest thing to see in reading this one is that, even after millenia of infectious disease and with all of the valuable tools, technology, and scientific advances with which we can fight them, we still resort back to our base primal instincts of exclusion when faced with these threats.
I’d recommend this one to anyone who is a fan of science-based non-fiction - the Discovery Channel lovers of the reading world - so long as you can put up with a bit of repetition and some jumping back and forth in the chronology of the narrative.
Thank you @simonschusterca @scribnerbooks @netgalley for the #gifted copy!
I know, a book about infectious disease during a pandemic? No thanks. But it’s not what you think and is actually pretty interesting!
The Plague Cycle by Charles Kenny examines the topic of infectious diseases and their relationship with population growth, the development of civilizations, colonialism, exploration, warfare, diet, technology/innovation, feminism, the sexual revolution, economy/trade, poverty, and violence. Although the ideas were at times repetitive (a major gripe of mine with many non-fiction books) and although some of these ideas seemed to be purported as causal in nature when they are likely more correlated, it was nonetheless intriguing to explore the interconnectedness of these ideas. We often consider our experience of things like this within our own small bubble, so viewing infectious disease through a much wider lens in time and space was thought-provoking. Learning of the history behind the development of some of the most world-changing vaccines was also fascinating, although the ethical violations involved were horrifying to say the least!
I think the saddest thing to see in reading this one is that, even after millenia of infectious disease and with all of the valuable tools, technology, and scientific advances with which we can fight them, we still resort back to our base primal instincts of exclusion when faced with these threats.
I’d recommend this one to anyone who is a fan of science-based non-fiction - the Discovery Channel lovers of the reading world - so long as you can put up with a bit of repetition and some jumping back and forth in the chronology of the narrative.
Thank you @simonschusterca @scribnerbooks @netgalley for the #gifted copy!
October 16, 2020
Read if you: Are fascinated by medical history, but are intimidated by the larger tomes in the field. It may seem a bit daunting at the very beginning, but press on--it's very accessible to the general reader.
Librarians/booksellers: Purchase if your older titles on pandemics have resurged in popularity during this COVID-19 period.
Many thanks to Scribner and NetGalley for a digital review copy in exchange for an honest review.
Librarians/booksellers: Purchase if your older titles on pandemics have resurged in popularity during this COVID-19 period.
Many thanks to Scribner and NetGalley for a digital review copy in exchange for an honest review.
January 29, 2021
Not quite as absorbing as John Barry’s The Great Influenza or Timothy Wineguard’s The Mosquito, nonetheless a good overview of pandemics. Great points on the overuse and misuse of antibiotics. Hate to see medical grade maggots become a thing.
March 4, 2022
This entire book examines the Malthusian perspective. Charles Kenny’s conclusion is that Malthus was wrong – that disease has had a much larger role in human history than famine, or war, either, for that matter. Regardless, humanity now has a choice of managing diseases so lives are improved or failing so that not only disease, but also malnutrition, unrest, and strife increase. The Plague Cycle has gruesome death numbers and accounts from diseases throughout human history. It is impossible to comprehend the suffering entailed. The point is to explain when and how humans have been affected by various diseases. Also explained is how this has affected human society and where we stand now. According to the author, the effect of plagues on society is not as strong as might have been expected. Even when large percentages of the population were killed by disease, society, according to him, did not break down, as might be predicted. The book first goes through the gruesome history or disease and then the development of the tools that we use against it. Here the story of sending orphan children on voyages around the world as reservoirs for smallpox vaccine is a fascinating one that I had never heard before. It’s a horrible and wonderful story. The Plague Cycle made me think about how vaccines for adults are handled. At least in the US, it seems that children have a very definite vaccine schedule that is up-to-date with the latest recommendations, but adults have had various vaccines depending on what the recommendations were when they were young. It’s impossible to get childhood vaccination records for most adults, so people don’t really know what vaccines they have had. Reading this book did make me take a look at my vaccines and get that shingles shot I had been procrastinating on. It certainly has actional information in that sense. The chapter dealing with antibiotics is terribly concerning, though, and I don’t know if there is anything that can be done about the problem of antibiotic overuse. I will have to look to see if there are any organizations fighting it. There was a lot of research that went into this book. The notes section is a bibliography demonstrating an almost superhuman number of references used in writing this book. The writing is good. It is very readable and has a human touch.
February 26, 2021
The Plague Cycle: The Unending War Between Humanity and Infectious Disease is a historical text written by Charles Kenny. It is a long-view look at how viral and bacterial illnesses have influenced the course of human events.
This book serves as an entry (A book that teaches you about the past) in The Indigo Reading Challenge 2021. I just clicked the link provided for this entry and found this book rather interesting and aptly apropos for our time.
Kenny, a senior fellow at the Center for Global Development, contextualizes the Covid-19 pandemic in this cogent study of humankind's fight against infectious diseases. Kenny celebrates modern medicine's progress against such scourges as smallpox and polio. He also explains that hunter-gatherer societies were most likely too small and too geographically isolated for infectious disease to be a major cause of death, and documents how the growth of cities and the charting of global trade routes led to worldwide pandemics.
After detailing how improved sanitation and vaccines, among other developments, have reduced global death tolls, Kenny turns to troubling recent trends, including the overuse of antibiotics by humans and on livestock, which has led to antibiotic-resistant strains of bacteria, the relative ease of developing bioweapons, and the anti-vaccine movement.
The Plague Cycle: The Unending War Between Humanity and Infectious Disease is written rather well. Kenny offers a lucid assessment of successes, such as programs to enhance unemployment benefits and provide universal income support and mistakes like late and overly long travel bans in the global response to Covid-19, and calls for strengthening the World Health Organization and international agreements on drug quality and antibiotic use.
All in all, The Plague Cycle: The Unending War Between Humanity and Infectious Disease is a timely, lucid look at the role of pandemics in history.
This book serves as an entry (A book that teaches you about the past) in The Indigo Reading Challenge 2021. I just clicked the link provided for this entry and found this book rather interesting and aptly apropos for our time.
Kenny, a senior fellow at the Center for Global Development, contextualizes the Covid-19 pandemic in this cogent study of humankind's fight against infectious diseases. Kenny celebrates modern medicine's progress against such scourges as smallpox and polio. He also explains that hunter-gatherer societies were most likely too small and too geographically isolated for infectious disease to be a major cause of death, and documents how the growth of cities and the charting of global trade routes led to worldwide pandemics.
After detailing how improved sanitation and vaccines, among other developments, have reduced global death tolls, Kenny turns to troubling recent trends, including the overuse of antibiotics by humans and on livestock, which has led to antibiotic-resistant strains of bacteria, the relative ease of developing bioweapons, and the anti-vaccine movement.
The Plague Cycle: The Unending War Between Humanity and Infectious Disease is written rather well. Kenny offers a lucid assessment of successes, such as programs to enhance unemployment benefits and provide universal income support and mistakes like late and overly long travel bans in the global response to Covid-19, and calls for strengthening the World Health Organization and international agreements on drug quality and antibiotic use.
All in all, The Plague Cycle: The Unending War Between Humanity and Infectious Disease is a timely, lucid look at the role of pandemics in history.
May 15, 2021
Not bad.
The book begins exploring whether plagues provide a “Malthusian” check on human population growth--but author Charles Kenny ultimately argues against this, and then celebrates the many improvements in public health over the past couple centuries.
(For this reason I think calling diseases a "Cycle" is a mistitle.)
It is interesting to learn, for example, that the growth of modern cities results less from migration than from more people already in cities surviving childhood and living longer.
However--the book retains its theme by asserting that new and maybe old infectious diseases will always be threats, even if we can beat back specific types.
A good chunk of the book reviews the many epidemics of recorded human history. Ancient greece and rome, Justinian's, the Black Death and lesser told stories from Asia. Maybe nothing original in this, but it was interesting nonetheless and exactly what I wanted. If you are looking to get some historical context of pandemics, this book is a good choice. The author began writing before 2020 so covid is just one of many characters (if a central one).
I find myself aligned with his philosophy of diseases. New threats will inevitably emerge, but humans are not predestined to be defeated by them. However I diverge philosophically with his approach to handling them.
Similar to the author of Apollo's Arrow (another popular coronavirus era book)--he focuses a lot of pages on how exclusion and distancing are always the tactics that humanity reverts to deal with infectious disease. At first he admits that the tactics work, even if they can have an alienating downside. However he then makes it a recurring theme to express distaste at this “exclusion principle” and sheds doubt on their efficacy.
Essentially, contact tracing, symptom screening, social distancing, hygiene and testing are good—but borders are bad. (It’s not clear to me where he puts “lockdown” in his exclusion framework.)
This seems to be very common strain of thinking in public health, and I see it as more ideological delusion than science.
The way the US did Covid, for example, a million short distance restrictions between people, seems worse to me than a few long distance restrictions (i.e. closed or effective border screenings), especially if there's a vaccine coming. In terms of how these different restriction structures actually optimize for total human freedom and physical health, I think the author misfires.
While pretty expansive in scope, the book is very pro establishment large public health organizations. He seems to be in the camp that believes public health's virtue is that it places science above politics—but IMO at the end of the day anything we do that involves other people is inherently political.
The author gives one brief story critical of public health, where the WHO downplayed the Ebola 2014 outbreak threat, because they believed the local population's panic would be worse than the outbreak, but then had to walk it back after hundreds of people started dying. But then a glowing review of WHO on Covid immediately follows this anecdote--even though they did the same thing!
According to the author, the countries that responded well (HK and SK) did so because they followed WHO's best practices, in contrast with the US.
It's not clear to me what specific actions he's referring to, or how he is so sure the actions weren't unilateral decisions on the part of those countries. My recollection is that many early US covid failures occurred while in lockstep with WHO (anti-panic, delayed acknowledgement of asymptomatic carriers, anti-mask advocacy, denying airborne transmission, etc.).
A healthy public is great, but I fail to see how the organizational structure of public health orgs doesn't create one, big single point of failure.
The author stops short of taking a side, but he plants the seed for exploring whether disease eradication efforts are worthwhile. Smallpox was a eventually a success, but other campaigns have proven much harder. It is not that eradication is wrong, but that campaigns themselves may divert resources from general healthcare infrastructure only to prove unsuccessful. Many pathogens will also inevitably spill back to humans from their animal reservoir or develop resistance to interventions.
Maybe this book just hit me at the wrong time. It's a good historical review, I was glued to it, but then becomes almost an advertisement for a bigger centralized public health infrastructure.
The book begins exploring whether plagues provide a “Malthusian” check on human population growth--but author Charles Kenny ultimately argues against this, and then celebrates the many improvements in public health over the past couple centuries.
(For this reason I think calling diseases a "Cycle" is a mistitle.)
It is interesting to learn, for example, that the growth of modern cities results less from migration than from more people already in cities surviving childhood and living longer.
However--the book retains its theme by asserting that new and maybe old infectious diseases will always be threats, even if we can beat back specific types.
A good chunk of the book reviews the many epidemics of recorded human history. Ancient greece and rome, Justinian's, the Black Death and lesser told stories from Asia. Maybe nothing original in this, but it was interesting nonetheless and exactly what I wanted. If you are looking to get some historical context of pandemics, this book is a good choice. The author began writing before 2020 so covid is just one of many characters (if a central one).
I find myself aligned with his philosophy of diseases. New threats will inevitably emerge, but humans are not predestined to be defeated by them. However I diverge philosophically with his approach to handling them.
Similar to the author of Apollo's Arrow (another popular coronavirus era book)--he focuses a lot of pages on how exclusion and distancing are always the tactics that humanity reverts to deal with infectious disease. At first he admits that the tactics work, even if they can have an alienating downside. However he then makes it a recurring theme to express distaste at this “exclusion principle” and sheds doubt on their efficacy.
Essentially, contact tracing, symptom screening, social distancing, hygiene and testing are good—but borders are bad. (It’s not clear to me where he puts “lockdown” in his exclusion framework.)
This seems to be very common strain of thinking in public health, and I see it as more ideological delusion than science.
The way the US did Covid, for example, a million short distance restrictions between people, seems worse to me than a few long distance restrictions (i.e. closed or effective border screenings), especially if there's a vaccine coming. In terms of how these different restriction structures actually optimize for total human freedom and physical health, I think the author misfires.
While pretty expansive in scope, the book is very pro establishment large public health organizations. He seems to be in the camp that believes public health's virtue is that it places science above politics—but IMO at the end of the day anything we do that involves other people is inherently political.
The author gives one brief story critical of public health, where the WHO downplayed the Ebola 2014 outbreak threat, because they believed the local population's panic would be worse than the outbreak, but then had to walk it back after hundreds of people started dying. But then a glowing review of WHO on Covid immediately follows this anecdote--even though they did the same thing!
According to the author, the countries that responded well (HK and SK) did so because they followed WHO's best practices, in contrast with the US.
It's not clear to me what specific actions he's referring to, or how he is so sure the actions weren't unilateral decisions on the part of those countries. My recollection is that many early US covid failures occurred while in lockstep with WHO (anti-panic, delayed acknowledgement of asymptomatic carriers, anti-mask advocacy, denying airborne transmission, etc.).
A healthy public is great, but I fail to see how the organizational structure of public health orgs doesn't create one, big single point of failure.
The author stops short of taking a side, but he plants the seed for exploring whether disease eradication efforts are worthwhile. Smallpox was a eventually a success, but other campaigns have proven much harder. It is not that eradication is wrong, but that campaigns themselves may divert resources from general healthcare infrastructure only to prove unsuccessful. Many pathogens will also inevitably spill back to humans from their animal reservoir or develop resistance to interventions.
Maybe this book just hit me at the wrong time. It's a good historical review, I was glued to it, but then becomes almost an advertisement for a bigger centralized public health infrastructure.
February 12, 2021
Great read.
Important book on the new landscape of things resulting in COVID-19.
I feel this book is a great companion read to Apollo's Arrow: The Profound and Enduring Impact of Coronavirus on the Way We Live - I would recommend reading them both!
This will not be the end of infectious diseases!
Travel only when necessary!
4.5/5
Important book on the new landscape of things resulting in COVID-19.
I feel this book is a great companion read to Apollo's Arrow: The Profound and Enduring Impact of Coronavirus on the Way We Live - I would recommend reading them both!
This will not be the end of infectious diseases!
Travel only when necessary!
4.5/5
October 13, 2021
4,5
Un saggio molto interessante che analizza la storia dell'umanità attraverso le malattie infettive. L'autore parte dalle malattie presenti al tempo dell'uomo preistorico fino ad arrivare alla pandemia di Covid 19. Pur essendo un saggio, lo stile non è mai pesante e non annoia il lettore. Anche i dati scientifici e numerici vengono inseriti con cura, senza appesantire la narrazione. Davvero ben scritto, molto interessante e soprattutto molto attuale. Assolutamente consigliato.
Un saggio molto interessante che analizza la storia dell'umanità attraverso le malattie infettive. L'autore parte dalle malattie presenti al tempo dell'uomo preistorico fino ad arrivare alla pandemia di Covid 19. Pur essendo un saggio, lo stile non è mai pesante e non annoia il lettore. Anche i dati scientifici e numerici vengono inseriti con cura, senza appesantire la narrazione. Davvero ben scritto, molto interessante e soprattutto molto attuale. Assolutamente consigliato.
February 13, 2025
I can’t fault this book for my mindset while reading it. Given the context of the US hellscape right now I found this read to just compound my feelings of anger and frustration to my fellow countrymen. BUT I say all that to say that this is well done and well written. Some parts were a bit muddled but overall a good reflection of the Covid situation in the West and overall pandemic history in the world to some degree.
June 22, 2023
La storia dell'uomo attraverso quella delle sue malattie infettive, ben scritta e con la giusta dose di umorismo.
Si fa più seria sul finale, quando raggiunge il tempo del Covid-19, e ci lascia con previsioni coerenti col resto del mondo scientifico: le pandemie continueranno ad esistere, dovremmo prepararci un po' meglio.
Si fa più seria sul finale, quando raggiunge il tempo del Covid-19, e ci lascia con previsioni coerenti col resto del mondo scientifico: le pandemie continueranno ad esistere, dovremmo prepararci un po' meglio.
January 29, 2021
(Audiobook) With all that has happened over the past year, particularly with COVID-19, there is no shortage of books analyzing the impact of diseases on humanity. This is the latest in those works. It is a survey of the history of how humanity deals with diseases. It starts with pre-history and the first human civilizations, noting that as human became more of an agricultural-based species, the impacts of diseases only grew (diet and remaining in a centralized location). From there, the work progresses through history, covering various plagues and outbreaks, but also looking at the role of sanitization and public health concerns. It hits many of the main talking points you might find in today’s headlines, from cleaning practices to vaccination concerns. It also addresses the underreported but just as concerning trend with superbugs and the overuse of antibiotics, which could cause greater issues down the road.
This work is a good historic overview. Does not get too technical and offers just enough of a survey to provide surface-level knowledge of events. The reader is solid and the rating is the same for audio as well as hard/e-copy.
This work is a good historic overview. Does not get too technical and offers just enough of a survey to provide surface-level knowledge of events. The reader is solid and the rating is the same for audio as well as hard/e-copy.
January 12, 2025
I capitoli fino al 9 sono un poco ripetitivi, parlando in generale dee pestilenze varie ma senza soffermarsi mai troppo su una o l'altra.
Gli ultimi sono analisi del mondo attuale e delle criticità da affrontare e dei vantaggi che abbiamo, gli unici che ho trovato realmente interessanti
Gli ultimi sono analisi del mondo attuale e delle criticità da affrontare e dei vantaggi che abbiamo, gli unici che ho trovato realmente interessanti
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February 27, 2021Informative, fascinating, and a little horrifying.
February 2, 2022
Wow what a book to read in a pandemic. Highly recommend this one to anyone with even the slightest interest in what the human race has gone through in the past 7000 years. Extremely informative! 5/5
January 6, 2021
The Plague Cycle: The Unending War Between Humanity and Infectious Disease by Charles Kenny is a highly recommended overview of the history of infectious diseases with some discussion of them in light of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The good news is that recent history suggests "humanity’s response to the new threat can be rapid and effective if we so choose. And that reassures us that humanity in the twenty-first century is in a considerably better position in the fight against infection than earlier generations. Because for most of humanity’s time on the planet, effective responses never came." For most of history plagues and diseases were the leading cause of death. Today it is heart attacks and strokes.
As Kenny points out, humanity is very resilient even in the face of even the most incredible stress created by large scale epidemics, pandemics and plague outbreaks. People lived through numerous epidemics over the years- the Black Death, typhus, measles, small pox, without resorting to social chaos and throwing morality aside. Agriculture and civilization set off a global firestorm of disease, especially once urbanization started. Before we started taking sanitary practices seriously, the only effective way to exposure to diseases was to quarantine the sick or refuse their entry to your area. Then, once we understood hygiene, it became possible to have more urbanization, which was further helped by medical advancements (sterilized medical treatment, antibiotics, vaccinations, etc.) and the understanding of how to combat infectious diseases.
As our world is becoming more globally connected, it is now more important to address our vulnerabilities to new emerging infectious diseases and potential plagues. For example, we need to address the overuse of antibiotics which has led to a strains of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. The global reaction to Covid-19 showcases the need for international cooperation on several different areas.
As someone who has read many books of various infectious diseases, plagues, and epidemics it should be noted that this is not meant to be a complex or complete history of infectious diseases. It is a nice overview for the general reader who wants more information on the subject and the text flows smoothly from one chapter to the next. It is a well-rounded overview written for the lay person. For more information, Kenny has a bibliography of his sources or look at the notes included in the text for subjects you might want to pursue further. Kenny is the director of technology and development at the Center for Global Development.
Disclosure: My review copy was courtesy of Scribner.
http://www.shetreadssoftly.com/2021/0...
The good news is that recent history suggests "humanity’s response to the new threat can be rapid and effective if we so choose. And that reassures us that humanity in the twenty-first century is in a considerably better position in the fight against infection than earlier generations. Because for most of humanity’s time on the planet, effective responses never came." For most of history plagues and diseases were the leading cause of death. Today it is heart attacks and strokes.
As Kenny points out, humanity is very resilient even in the face of even the most incredible stress created by large scale epidemics, pandemics and plague outbreaks. People lived through numerous epidemics over the years- the Black Death, typhus, measles, small pox, without resorting to social chaos and throwing morality aside. Agriculture and civilization set off a global firestorm of disease, especially once urbanization started. Before we started taking sanitary practices seriously, the only effective way to exposure to diseases was to quarantine the sick or refuse their entry to your area. Then, once we understood hygiene, it became possible to have more urbanization, which was further helped by medical advancements (sterilized medical treatment, antibiotics, vaccinations, etc.) and the understanding of how to combat infectious diseases.
As our world is becoming more globally connected, it is now more important to address our vulnerabilities to new emerging infectious diseases and potential plagues. For example, we need to address the overuse of antibiotics which has led to a strains of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. The global reaction to Covid-19 showcases the need for international cooperation on several different areas.
As someone who has read many books of various infectious diseases, plagues, and epidemics it should be noted that this is not meant to be a complex or complete history of infectious diseases. It is a nice overview for the general reader who wants more information on the subject and the text flows smoothly from one chapter to the next. It is a well-rounded overview written for the lay person. For more information, Kenny has a bibliography of his sources or look at the notes included in the text for subjects you might want to pursue further. Kenny is the director of technology and development at the Center for Global Development.
Disclosure: My review copy was courtesy of Scribner.
http://www.shetreadssoftly.com/2021/0...
January 19, 2021
This is a highly readable book covering the history of infectious disease in humans - everything from the plague to polio to Ebola to COVID-19. It’s a whirlwind introduction to these diseases and how they’ve shaped the world (as well as how our world has shaped them.)
I really enjoyed the emphasis on the social and historical context of the plagues Kenny discussed - disease doesn’t happen in a vacuum, and understanding this context can help us avoid the mistakes of the past. As he’s explaining past outbreaks, Kenny connects back to current events, helping the reader draw parallels.
Kenny doesn’t mince words about the skewed priorities in medicine - we have multiple medicines for erectile dysfunction but no malaria vaccine. His commentary on neglected diseases/populations will be eye-opening to many readers.
This book is much more digestible than other history of medicine books I’ve read - I feel comfortable recommending this to family and friends even with little science background. The sections on vaccines and antibiotics are especially relevant for today.
Thank you to Scribner for providing an ARC of this book on NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
I really enjoyed the emphasis on the social and historical context of the plagues Kenny discussed - disease doesn’t happen in a vacuum, and understanding this context can help us avoid the mistakes of the past. As he’s explaining past outbreaks, Kenny connects back to current events, helping the reader draw parallels.
Kenny doesn’t mince words about the skewed priorities in medicine - we have multiple medicines for erectile dysfunction but no malaria vaccine. His commentary on neglected diseases/populations will be eye-opening to many readers.
This book is much more digestible than other history of medicine books I’ve read - I feel comfortable recommending this to family and friends even with little science background. The sections on vaccines and antibiotics are especially relevant for today.
Thank you to Scribner for providing an ARC of this book on NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
January 23, 2021
Great books about previous pandemics and very relevant book at the moment, especially because I am going all neardy on the current situations. If we do not annihilate ourselves or the AI or asteroids will not get us first, viruses will be probably the end of us.
February 7, 2021
This is a fascinating journey reaching from the conditions necessary for infectious diseases to impact human groups to the present day where, despite many advances, the battles against contagion continues. The book is not at all technical, but is very thorough. Kenny recounts several of the best known discoveries, with lesser known detail filling in the story. He also points out that some moves didn't need science - humans avoid the 'icky' in ways that aid survival without knowledge of germ theory. He also explains why some diseases are more easily controlled than others. For solutions to be successful they need to be simple, cheap and easily obtained. And, as we are seeing today with Covid, the willingness of individuals to wear masks and distance from others affects the rate of infection. Yes, this book is very timely, but would be interesting without an active pandemic.
I received this book compliments of Scribner and NetGalley. The opinions are my own.
I received this book compliments of Scribner and NetGalley. The opinions are my own.
April 20, 2021
Content warning: graphically depicts symptoms of infectious diseases
Nonfiction, especially when backed with science, can be difficult to review, so it is not the content that this review will focus on but rather how it was delivered. As long as there have been humans roaming earth there has been disease. The two seem to go hand in hand and have been at war with each other since the beginning of our existence. Charles Kenny began writing The Plague Cycle years before the novel coronavirus plagued humanity, but its release in January of 2021 was nothing but timely. The time and effort that Kenny put into researching The Plague Cycle is evident all throughout the novel and it’s clear that Kenny was passionate about this topic.
Kenny has written a very accessible piece of nonfiction about the history of plagues. The Plague Cycle not only gets to the point, but manages to weave humour into its writing, which acts as comic relief that balances the scientific and historic jargon dominating most of the novel. Readers who enjoy history and science will find great joy reading The Plague Cycle, and at the same time readers who may be new to the nonfiction scene will find this an easy one to begin with. It’s crucial to learn from our collective history and The Plague Cycle shows the reader that we have been, to an extent. There will always be a newer, deadlier infectious disease that will threaten to end humanity, and it’s up to us to ensure that we are ready to take it on.
*Thank you Simon & Schuster Canada for the complimentary copy in exchange for an honest review!
Originally published on Cloud Lake Literary, link below:
https://www.cloudlakeliterary.ca/blog...
Nonfiction, especially when backed with science, can be difficult to review, so it is not the content that this review will focus on but rather how it was delivered. As long as there have been humans roaming earth there has been disease. The two seem to go hand in hand and have been at war with each other since the beginning of our existence. Charles Kenny began writing The Plague Cycle years before the novel coronavirus plagued humanity, but its release in January of 2021 was nothing but timely. The time and effort that Kenny put into researching The Plague Cycle is evident all throughout the novel and it’s clear that Kenny was passionate about this topic.
Kenny has written a very accessible piece of nonfiction about the history of plagues. The Plague Cycle not only gets to the point, but manages to weave humour into its writing, which acts as comic relief that balances the scientific and historic jargon dominating most of the novel. Readers who enjoy history and science will find great joy reading The Plague Cycle, and at the same time readers who may be new to the nonfiction scene will find this an easy one to begin with. It’s crucial to learn from our collective history and The Plague Cycle shows the reader that we have been, to an extent. There will always be a newer, deadlier infectious disease that will threaten to end humanity, and it’s up to us to ensure that we are ready to take it on.
*Thank you Simon & Schuster Canada for the complimentary copy in exchange for an honest review!
Originally published on Cloud Lake Literary, link below:
https://www.cloudlakeliterary.ca/blog...
February 1, 2021
Not a bad general survey of the progress of the advance of medical science against disease.
Not much to be found in this book that can’t be found in a basic college level biology text.
The author makes little attempt to hide the fact that this is a persuasive book aimed at furthering a specific agenda.
The author also does not miss an opportunity to criticize or praise certain partisan opinions.
To read this book you must be a strong critical thinker. The ability to sort through what is fact/ history and what is opinion or partisan policy lobby is critical for this book. The author makes almost no attempt to make clear what is fact and what is conjecture.
In the end remember this is not written by a medical professional, but a policy analyst that sees an opportunity to play off the recent tragedies to forward a partisan support for policies that are friendly to the WHO and global government theories.
Read with care, or find a better book about the history of pandemics.
Not much to be found in this book that can’t be found in a basic college level biology text.
The author makes little attempt to hide the fact that this is a persuasive book aimed at furthering a specific agenda.
The author also does not miss an opportunity to criticize or praise certain partisan opinions.
To read this book you must be a strong critical thinker. The ability to sort through what is fact/ history and what is opinion or partisan policy lobby is critical for this book. The author makes almost no attempt to make clear what is fact and what is conjecture.
In the end remember this is not written by a medical professional, but a policy analyst that sees an opportunity to play off the recent tragedies to forward a partisan support for policies that are friendly to the WHO and global government theories.
Read with care, or find a better book about the history of pandemics.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 141 reviews