{"product_id":"9781982165338","title":"The Plague Cycle : The Unending War Between Humanity and Infectious Disease","description":"\u003cstrong\u003eThe Plague Cycle\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor(s): Charles Kenny\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eA vivid, sweeping history of mankind’s battles with infectious disease, for readers of the #1 \u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e bestsellers Yuval Harari’s \u003ci\u003eSapiens \u003c\/i\u003eand John Barry’s \u003ci\u003eThe Great Influenza\u003c\/i\u003e.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFor 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.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003eHowever, our development has lately become precarious. Climate and population fluctuations and aspects of our prosperity 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 harvest a Covid-19 vaccine—with millions of lives and trillions of dollars at stake.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003eWritten as colorful history, \u003ci\u003eThe Plague Cycle\u003c\/i\u003e 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 timely look at the cyclical nature of infectious disease.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eReview(s):\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eA \u003ci\u003eNew Statesman\u003c\/i\u003e Book of the Year\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eMain Selection of both the \u003ci\u003eHistory Book Club\u003c\/i\u003e and the \u003ci\u003eS\u003c\/i\u003e\u003ci\u003ecience Book Club\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e“In his fact-filled and alarming overview of major infectious diseases past and present, economist Kenny discusses sources and vectors of epidemics, the toll of suffering and death, progress in controlling communicable diseases, and persistent problems.”\u003cbr\u003e —\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eBooklist\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003e (starred review)\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Kenny contextualizes the Covid-19 pandemic...A worthy primer on a subject of pressing importance.”\u003cbr\u003e \u003cb\u003e—\u003ci\u003ePublishers Weekly\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“A brilliant exploration of what you might think is the most important topic of the year, but which Charles Kenny shows is the most important topic of the past five millennia. With clarity, depth, and wit, Kenny gives us the pandemic big picture.”  \u003cbr\u003e \u003cb\u003e —Steven Pinker, Johnstone Professor of Psychology, Harvard University, and the author of \u003ci\u003eEnlightenment Now\u003c\/i\u003e \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Engaging… provides a grand historical view of the critical role that disease has played in shaping human behavior and societies.” \u003cbr\u003e \u003cb\u003e—Francis Fukuyama, author of \u003ci\u003eThe End of History and the Last Man\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“\u003ci\u003eThe Plague Cycle\u003c\/i\u003e is this year’s must read….If you want to understand the current COVID-19 crisis and be prepared for what is likely to come next, read this book.” \u003cbr\u003e \u003cb\u003e—Richard Florida, author of \u003ci\u003eThe Rise of the Creative Class\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“A completely fresh view on world history—sweeping, humane, and uncomfortably timely.”   \u003cbr\u003e \u003cb\u003e—Tim Harford, author of \u003ci\u003eThe Undercover Economist\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“An astute explication of our species’ battles with microbes since the dawn of human time. An optimist, Kenny argues that humanity has the tools to conquer infectious diseases.” \u003cbr\u003e \u003cb\u003e—Laurie Garrett, author of \u003ci\u003eThe Coming Plague\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Throughout history, infectious diseases have been defeated. Covid-19 will be defeated too. Charles Kenny’s brilliant \u003ci\u003eThe Plague Cycle \u003c\/i\u003eis the book of the hour.”    \u003cbr\u003e \u003cb\u003e—Gregg Easterbrook, author of \u003ci\u003eIt’s Better Than It Looks\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Compelling…Kenny reminds us that nothing unites us, or divides us, as powerfully as our infectious diseases.”    \u003cbr\u003e \u003cb\u003e—Kyle Harper author of \u003ci\u003eThe Fate of Rome: Climate, Disease, and the End of an Empire\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Kenny has penned a concise, erudite, and highly readable narrative probing humanity's protracted and Malthusian battle against deadly pathogens from malaria and smallpox to cholera and Covid.” \u003cbr\u003e \u003cb\u003e—Timothy Winegard, author of \u003ci\u003eThe Mosquito: A Human History of Our Deadliest Predator\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Important, timely, and also gripping….Fit to stand beside William H. McNeill’s \u003ci\u003ePlagues and Peoples.\u003c\/i\u003e”\u003cbr\u003e \u003cb\u003e—David Wootton, author of \u003ci\u003eBad Medicine: Doctors Doing Harm Since Hippocrates\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eThe Invention of Science\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"\u003ci\u003eThe Plague Cycle\u003c\/i\u003e stands in a long tradition of informative plagues-and-people books…A timely, lucid look at the role of pandemics in history.\"\u003cbr\u003e —\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eKirkus Reviews\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eISBN:  9781982165338\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e ","brand":"Scribner","offers":[{"title":"Hardback","offer_id":40984584487118,"sku":"9781982165338","price":28.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0600\/7029\/7806\/products\/O_085e3cc6-92a3-46d2-bc6b-668dc9f49266.jpg?v=1646775331","url":"https:\/\/pickwickbookshop.com\/products\/9781982165338","provider":"Pickwick Bookshop","version":"1.0","type":"link"}