"Epidemic diseases enter the world by chance, but they become catastrophic by human design. With clear-eyed research, historian and author Edna Bonhomme shows that throughout history outbreaks of disease have been exacerbated by and gone on to further expand the racial, economic, and sociopolitical divides we allow to fester in times of good health. Bonhomme confronts humanity's disastrous treatment of pandemic disease and 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 our patterns of scapegoating and discrimination in the face of crisis. Based on in-depth research, firsthand knowledge, and ... cultural analysis, Bonhomme explores how cholera, HIV/AIDS, the Spanish flu, sleeping sickness, Ebola, and COVID-19 changed our world forever while whetting humanity's worst appetites for conquest and domination. A History of the World in Six Plagues reframes our understanding of public health, reminds us to remain vigilant even in our most desperate hours, and issues a stirring call for change"-- Provided by publisher.
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