A History of the World in Six Plagues

An original, revolutionary new social and scientific history, A History of the World in Six Plagues is a deeply reported, insightful account of humankind's battles with epidemic disease.

Epidemic diseases enter the world by chance, but they become catastrophic by human design.

With clear-eyed research and lush prose, A History of the World in Six Plagues shows that throughout history, outbreaks of disease have further expanded the racial, economic and sociopolitical divides we allow to fester in times of good health.

Science historian Edna Bonhomme's examination of humanity's disastrous treatment of pandemic disease takes us across place and time from Port-au-Prince to Tanzania and from plantation-era America to our modern COVID-19-scarred world to unravel shocking truths about the patterns of discrimination in the face of disease.

Based on in-depth research and cultural analysis, Bonhomme explores Cholera, HIV/AIDS, the Spanish Flu, Sleeping Sickness, Ebola and COVID-19 amidst the backdrop of unequal public policy. But much more than a remarkable history, A History of the World in Six Plagues is also a rising call for change, and Bonhomme's revelations have important implications for healthcare and policy across the world.

An expansive portraiture of how colonialism and confinement have influenced our understanding of illness and humanity. Thankfully, due to the author's talent and sheer strength in combining personal narrative with history, this book is also tender as it tackles some of the most stigmatized subjects of our time. -- Morgan Jerkins, author of WANDERING IN STRANGE LANDS Bonhomme embarks on a breathtaking journey through the intertwined histories of contagions and systemic inequities that have shaped our history. With poignant insights and compelling personal narratives, she reveals the stories of marginalized individuals and communities often overlooked in society. Bonhomme's thought-provoking exploration not only sheds light on past injustices but challenges us to confront our history and envision a more compassionate future. -- Uché Blackstock, author of LEGACY The history of the world is a history of human's usually futile attempts at control: at containing other humans and overpowering the more-than-human world. In this meticulously researched book, Edna Bonhomme shows us the ways that contagious illness frustrates those attempts at control, and how people too have resisted captivity and found ways to care for one another in the worst of circumstances. A powerful book that shines a light on the parts of life we'd rather ignore, and the beauty that can arise from horror. -- Sarah Jaffe, author of FROM THE ASHES Microbes have shaped human history as much as human will has. In A History of the World in Six Plagues, Edna Bonhomme narrates centuries of the human-microbial dance, laying out how our destinies, liberties and values are determined by how humans negotiate life on earth with our smallest living neighbours. Ambitious in her scope yet intimate in her humane storytelling, Bonhomme has written the interspecies book we need to navigate life on our interconnected planet. Brilliant, tender and illuminating. -- Steven W. Thrasher, author of THE VIRAL UNDERCLASS: THE HUMAN TOLL WHEN INEQUALTIY AND DISEASE COLLIDE Pandemics thrive on inequities and widen them, providing more kindling for future plagues. This simple lesson has proven devastatingly difficult to learn. But I think that if everyone read Edna Bonhomme's incredible, humane, insightful book--and I hope they do--we might stand a chance of actually breaking the cycle of neglect and panic. -- Ed Yong, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of I CONTAIN MULTITUDES and AN IMMENSE WORLD This book is a tour de force! A brilliant and beautifully written account of the contours of contagion, health, race, gender, confinement, class and space across multiple centuries and geohistories. A History of the World in Six Plagues will change how people think about public health and histories of medicine. -- Dr. Tiffany N. Florvil, Associate Professor of History at The University of New Mexico and author of MOBILIZING BLACK GERMANY Equal parts intimate portrait of illness and piercing analysis of our socio-political predicament. From empires to modern states, no civilization escapes the consequences of a plague. Let this book be a guide for our pandemic past, present and probable--but by no means inescapable--future. -- George Aumoithe, Assistant Professor of History at Harvard University

Edna Bonhomme is a historian of science, culture writer and book critic and is a contributing editor for Frieze Magazine. She is coeditor of the book After Sex and her essays have appeared in Esquire, Guardian, The Atlantic, London Review of Books, The Nation and elsewhere. She earned a PhD in history of science from Princeton University. Edna previously held fellowships at the Max Planck Institute, the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, the Camargo Foundation, and Baldwin for the Arts. She has received awards from the Robert Silvers Foundation and the Andy Warhol Foundation. She lives in Berlin, Germany.

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