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Plagues upon the Earth: Disease and the Course of Human History (The Princeton Economic History of the Western World) Kindle Edition

by Kyle Harper (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 151 ratings
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A sweeping germ’s-eye view of history from human origins to global pandemics

Plagues upon the Earth is a monumental history of humans and their germs. Weaving together a grand narrative of global history with insights from cutting-edge genetics, Kyle Harper explains why humanity’s uniquely dangerous disease pool is rooted deep in our evolutionary past, and why its growth is accelerated by technological progress. He shows that the story of disease is entangled with the history of slavery, colonialism, and capitalism, and reveals the enduring effects of historical plagues in patterns of wealth, health, power, and inequality. He also tells the story of humanity’s escape from infectious disease—a triumph that makes life as we know it possible, yet destabilizes the environment and fosters new diseases.

Panoramic in scope, Plagues upon the Earth traces the role of disease in the transition to farming, the spread of cities, the advance of transportation, and the stupendous increase in human population. Harper offers a new interpretation of humanity’s path to control over infectious disease—one where rising evolutionary threats constantly push back against human progress, and where the devastating effects of modernization contribute to the great divergence between societies. The book reminds us that human health is globally interdependent—and inseparable from the well-being of the planet itself.

Putting the COVID-19 pandemic in perspective, Plagues upon the Earth tells the story of how we got here as a species, and it may help us decide where we want to go.

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Editorial Reviews

Review

"[A] sweeping masterpiece. . . . It’s difficult for me to think of anyone who will not find something eye-opening and enlightening in the pages of this comprehensive, beautifully written and eloquent book." ― Forbes

"Comprehensive."---Tyler Cowen, Marginal Revolution

"A remarkable accomplishment that weaves together microbiology, history, and economics to understand the role of diseases in shaping human history. Harper, an established historian known for his first three books on Rome and late antiquity, has an impressive command of virology, bacteriology, and parasitology as well as history and economics. In 'Plagues Upon the Earth.' he explains all of these clearly and with many arresting turns of phrase and insights."---Alex Tabarrok, Marginal Revolution

"Well-conceived. … [Kyle] Harper combs through the literature of history, economics, epidemiology, and other disciplines to deliver a solid study of the role of infectious disease in the human story. ... Harper’s long-view study is a welcome addition to the spate of recent books on epidemic disease." ― Kirkus Reviews

"Completing the reading of this book leaves one with more than a feeling of satisfaction. Admiration for a major task that was written in an engaging style that retains a facile elegance throughout its 700 pages, that presents comprehensive and detailed information as though it were the sort of material that readers come across every day, is what one might not expect, but welcomes, in a serious work of this size."---Ian Lipke, Queensland Reviewers Collective

"This timely work is the book of extraordinary brilliance and scope and the most significant in the field since William McNeill’s Plagues and Peoples from the mid-1970s."---David Lorimer, Paradigm Explorer

"Magisterial." ― Prospect

"Winner of the PROSE Award in the History of Science, Medicine, and Technology, Association of American Publishers"

"Plagues Upon the Earth is a highly provoking and enjoyable read. It shows that our success as a species is equally paralleled to the success of pathogens"---Makayla Alderson Fox, World History Encyclopedia

"Magisterial. . . . [Harper’s] mastery of the science is only matched by the ease of his prose. If I were to nominate a book of the year, it would be this one."---Andrew Sullivan, The Dishcast

"Plagues upon the Earth is a remarkable achievement."---Talha Burki, The Lancet

"By integrating history, demography, economics, evolutionary biology and genomics into a seamless narrative, [Harper] does something that I, for one, have never seen before done so eloquently or persuasively: he demonstrates that any thorough understanding of health requires the kind of sweeping perspective that the humanities offers."---Steve Mintz, Inside Higher Ed

"[A] superb new history of infectious disease. Be so grateful you live now!"---David Frum

"This magnificent book stood out as much for its nuance and academic rigour as it did for its readability." ― Inquisitive Biologist

"An ambitious, engaging, and unified history of humanity’s interaction with infectious disease."---Gregory J. Morgan, Science

"This is a solid book, superbly referenced and interdisciplinary, covering disease from pre-human origins to the present, and making extensive use of published DNA comparisons and descriptions of plagues by historical observers." ― Choice

"A Choice Outstanding Academic Title of the Year"

"A New Statesman Essential Non-Fiction Book of 2021"

Review

“What a magnificent accomplishment! Plagues upon the Earth illuminates the inexorable toll of infectious disease on humankind over thousands of years. The net effect is a clarion cry beseeching us to forswear denial and hubris for realism and collaboration when it comes to our vulnerability to disease. Readable, global, and provocative, this book speaks to the human condition itself.”―Elizabeth A. Fenn, Pulitzer Prize winner and author of Pox Americana: The Great Smallpox Epidemic of 1775–82

“The ordeal of COVID-19 reminds us of the power of infectious disease in human affairs. Harper’s lively overview illuminates the global historical role of infectious disease as no previous book has done, taking advantage of the fresh harvest of information about disease history now available through genomic sequencing. A triumph of synoptic history on a crucial and all too timely subject.”―J. R. McNeill, coauthor of The Great Acceleration

“Kyle Harper has written the perfect update to William McNeill’s twentieth-century groundbreaking book, Plagues and Peoples, drawing on twenty-first-century science to show how viruses, bacteria, and other microbes have changed the course of history and threaten our survival. This monumental work spans the history of humanity and our species’ constantly evolving landscape of microscopic threat. It’s a jaw-dropping contribution to the canon of literature on pandemics, outbreaks, and microbial impact on human history.”―Laurie Garrett, Pulitzer Prize–winning writer and author of The Coming Plague: Newly Emerging Diseases in a World Out of Balance

“Timely, comprehensive, and fluently written. Plagues upon the Earth represents a superb unification of the latest evidence about infectious diseases from prehistory until the present: diseases that changed the course of world history more than treaties, wars, and nations. If viruses and bacteria could have selected their own most worthy biographer, they couldn’t have done better than to have chosen Kyle Harper to narrate their long history.”―James C. Scott, author of Against the Grain

“Comprehensive and accessible. Everyone should read Plagues upon the Earth in order to understand the role of disease in our history, and in our future.”―Susan P. Mattern, author of The Slow Moon Climbs

“Reading Harper’s masterful book is like witnessing firsthand the terror of Pompeii, except that it is not the eruption of Vesuvius that fills us with fear and awe but rather deadly epidemics as they unfold across the centuries. Plagues upon the Earth illuminates the history of humanity and its diseases while providing important insights into the COVID-19 pandemic.”―Peter J. Hotez, author of Preventing the Next Pandemic

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B094DX4ZFP
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Princeton University Press (October 12, 2021)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ October 12, 2021
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 49699 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 688 pages
  • Page numbers source ISBN ‏ : ‎ 0691230595
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 151 ratings

About the author

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Kyle Harper

Kyle Harper

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Kyle Harper is a historian of the classical world at his alma mater, the University of Oklahoma.

He graduated summa cum laude with a degree in Letters from OU and then received his Ph.D. in History from Harvard University in 2007.

His first book was published by Cambridge University Press as Slavery in the Late Roman World, AD 275-425. The book was awarded the James Henry Breasted Prize by the American Historical Association and the Outstanding Publication Award from the Classical Association of the Middle West and South. His second book, From Shame to Sin: The Christian Transformation of Sexual Morality was published by Harvard University Press in 2013 and received the Award for Excellence in Historical Studies from the American Academy of Religion. Kyle's third book, The Fate of Rome: Climate, Disease, and the End of an Empire, appeared in 2017. The book argues that climate change and pandemic disease were integral to the fall of the Roman Empire. It has been translated into twelve languages. In October of 2021, his fourth book, Plagues upon the Earth: Disease and the Course of Human History, will appear.

A committed teacher, Kyle offers a range of courses on ancient history and early Christianity.

He blogs at kyleharper.net.

Customer reviews

4.6 out of 5 stars
4.6 out of 5
151 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Richard S. Wells
5.0 out of 5 stars simply a Masterpiece
Reviewed in the United States on July 28, 2023
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This is the finest book, of its kind, that I have ever read. The scope of the endeavor—to understand the meaningful relationship of disease to human life—is stunning. But the success of the endeavor is even more so.
I had a career as a professor of political science, also at the University of Oklahoma, where Harper was a student and is now a faculty member. I wish I had known him, but I retired before he arrived.
One of the institutional problems of the modern university is that it “speaks” to matters in a series of different, often clashing, voices rooted in single disciplines. But, in this book, we hear a single “voice,”speaking as if it were composed of almost all of the various disciplinary voices within the university. In my thirty years as a professor, I sometimes wondered what such a voice might sound like. Now, I know.
I stand simply in awe of this accomplishment.
5 people found this helpful
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That Zajdowicz
5.0 out of 5 stars A Consilient History
Reviewed in the United States on August 17, 2023
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This book is an excellent synthesis of the story of our co-evolution with the world of microbes. Humans like to believe we are a superior species; Harper shows us that we are simply living in a complex relationship with other organisms that is always dynamic and affects both sides. Five stars for this consilient volume.
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old hickory
4.0 out of 5 stars The history of plagues
Reviewed in the United States on December 26, 2021
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Extensive and well written. Also probably too redundant. Sill an excellent history not only of plagues but attempts to eradicate them.

T
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Robert Walker
5.0 out of 5 stars Encyclopedic
Reviewed in the United States on November 20, 2021
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This is an absolutely masterful history of the major pandemics and epidemics from prehistory to the present. Harper's command of the biology of pathogens is as impressive as his detailed narration of historical events surrounding epidemics. Plus, it reads magnificently. It is long (500+ pages) but the prose is effortless and filled with rich characterization of diseases and their manifestation.

With COVID still running rampant, this text would be a good read - particularly for those who are vaccine avoidant. Harper's hypothesis about the curtailment of infections is two fold - that the rise of science coupled with increased governmental activism paved the way to reduce the impact of infectious diseases on populations. His use of genetic findings about the origins of pathogens is fascinating in itself.

A great read!
22 people found this helpful
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Watkins3
5.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating and well-written
Reviewed in the United States on December 28, 2021
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This is a fantastic book. It is beautifully written and explores the impact of infectious diseases on human society from prehistoric times up to the 20th century. The author, who is a historian and does not have a medical background, nonetheless has an incredibly broad and nuanced understanding of the subject matter. I highly recommend this book.
2 people found this helpful
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MikeR
5.0 out of 5 stars fascinating read
Reviewed in the United States on January 29, 2022
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Plagues Upon the Earth provides an explanation for disparities in past and present human and economic development by geographic region. It explains the linkage between human health and the resulting over population of humans and the resulting vulnerability to future disease. It also puts the current Covid pandemic in context. A well researched book with an overwhelming amount of information.
4 people found this helpful
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M.B.
3.0 out of 5 stars A summary of research
Reviewed in the United States on March 22, 2022
Kyle Harper's "Plagues upon the Earth: Disease and the Course of Human History" is a long read at over 500 pages, not including all the endnotes. The book purports to cover all the diseases known throughout the history of humankind. It is a summary of current investigative research. Considering the vast scope of the topic, Harper does the best anyone can.

There is not a lot of complicated biology or chemistry here, but the author occasionally bogs the lay reader like me down with some difficult genetic concepts. Nevertheless, he tries to keep the narrative moving in a more or less chronological manner, beginning with proto-human hominids and the agricultural revolution before getting into recorded history.

The vast majority of the book focuses on diseases that have impacted the Western world: various plagues of Roman times, the bubonic plague, cholera, and so on. There is scant information relating to pre-colonial America, Africa, Asia, and the Pacific. There are mentions here and there, but I suppose Harper did not have access to such sources because of language and research barriers.

"Plagues upon the Earth" has an extensive index, works cited, and further reading sections.
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Marko
5.0 out of 5 stars Stunningly impressive in scope
Reviewed in the United States on December 30, 2021
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Harper, as he did in the excellent and informative Fate of Rome, once again takes on an impossibly huge topic. As before, he executes that task darn near flawlessly. If one wants to understand where we have been and how we have arrived in our current environment regarding humans and pathogens, this is the book to read!
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Top reviews from other countries

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Harry Salamon
5.0 out of 5 stars Opera capitale sulla storia delle epidemie.
Reviewed in Italy on September 25, 2023
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Un approccio enciclopedico alla materia, completo dei necessari panorami sociali, delle minime informazioni mediche per illustrare la materia. Un'opera fondamentale.
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Bohumil Drasar
5.0 out of 5 stars Deserves to be widely read
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 16, 2023
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Very interesting view on the role of disease in human evolution and history. The author is a historian and as a microbiologist I have some alternative vies on a few details. However, the general thesis is unimpeachable and deserves to be widely considered. Will chang your view of history.
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Anja Zeller
5.0 out of 5 stars Good read
Reviewed in Germany on November 1, 2022
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Very interesting read. I am interested in the history of mankind, and have read before this book "After the Ice: A Global Human History, 20,000-5000 BC" and then "The Dawn of Everything: A New History of Humanity". This is the 3rd book looking at longterm developments in human history that I am reading. The order in which I read these books was perfect for me, since the latter two in some places refer to human settlements that are described in the first book, and the development of societies described in the 2nd book is relevant for some diseases described in "Plagues".
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