The Pandemic Century: One Hundred Years of Panic, Hysteria, and Hubris
The Pandemic Century by Mark Honigsbaum is a detailed exploration of pandemics over the last century, presenting vivid accounts of historical outbreaks like the 1918 flu epidemic, HIV/AIDS, and Ebola. The author shares gripping narratives that shed light on how these infectious diseases spread and how society responded to them. Honigsbaum combines historical context with scientific insights, highlighting the complex interplay between human behavior, environmental changes, and the patterns of disease outbreaks, while also emphasizing the need for better preparedness against future pandemics.
The writing style is engaging and journalistic, making the book accessible to readers without a medical background. Honigsbaum employs a mix of thrilling storytelling and thorough research, ensuring that readers comprehend the medical and social dynamics behind each pandemic. While the book is packed with detailed information, it remains easy to read, drawing in the audience with its dramatic recounting of events and the pressing relevance of its themes amid current global health challenges.
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From The Publisher:
With a New Chapter and Updated Epilogue on Coronavirus
A Financial Times Best Health Book of 2019 and a New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice
"Honigsbaum does a superb job covering a century's worth of pandemics and the fears they invariably unleash." -Howard Markel, MD, PhD, director of the Center for the History of Medicine, University of Michigan
How can we understand the COVID-19 pandemic? Ever since the 1918 Spanish influenza pandemic, scientists have dreamed of preventing such catastrophic outbreaks of infectious disease. Yet despite a century of medical progress, viral and bacterial disasters continue to take us by surprise, inciting panic and dominating news cycles. In The Pandemic Century, a lively account of scares both infamous and less known, medical historian Mark Honigsbaum combines reportage with the history of science and medical sociology to artfully reconstruct epidemiological mysteries and the ecology of infectious diseases. We meet dedicated disease detectives, obstructive or incompetent public health officials, and brilliant scientists often blinded by their own knowledge of bacteria and viruses-and see how fear of disease often exacerbates racial, religious, and ethnic tensions. Now updated with a new chapter and epilogue. 8 pages of black-and-white photographs
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