Plagues Upon the Earth: Disease and the Course of Human History

By: Kyle Harper
Published: 2021
704 Pages

Briefly, what is this book about?

A comprehensive historical overview of the never-ending war between humanity and disease. From its earliest days all the way down to the COVID-19 pandemic. With a specific focus on what he calls the "paradox of progress": every new advance creates new opportunities for diseases. But it's not just us driving diseases, they're driving us as well. Efforts to mitigate the negative effects of these pathogens are scattered throughout our history, our civilization and our genes.

What authorial biases should I be aware of?

None that you'd really be surprised by. He explicitly takes a very global view of humanity's disease burden, knowing that the story of European diseases like smallpox and the plague have already received plenty of attention. (Which is not to say he ignores them. Merely that he locates them as just one among many.)

Who should read this book?

I think everyone should be more aware of the potential dangers of pandemics, and the monstrous impact plagues have had on the development of humanity and civilization, and this book does a fantastic job with the second part, but it has less to offer on future danger than I hoped. Speaking of which:

What does the book have to say about the future?

Harper definitely takes the stand that our long war against diseases is far from over, and there is a lot of great discussion about how pathogens evolve alongside us, changing tactics as we change our environment. But there's almost no discussion (none that I really remember) of the danger of bioengineered pathogens, which felt like a significant oversight.

Specific thoughts: Two things which continue to baffle me