Plus, receive recommendations and exclusive offers on all of your favorite books and authors from Simon & Schuster.
0:00 /
A History of the World in Six Plagues
How Contagion, Class, and Captivity Shaped Us, from Cholera to COVID-19
LIST PRICE $14.99
PRICE MAY VARY BY RETAILER
Digital products purchased on SimonandSchuster.com must be read on the Simon & Schuster Books app. Learn more.
Get 20% off with code COZY26 plus free shipping on orders of $40 or more. Discount on physical products only. Terms apply.
Buy from Other Retailers
Table of Contents
About the Book
An “incredible, humane, insightful” (Ed Yong, Pulitzer Prize winner) account of humankind’s battles with epidemic disease, and their outsized role in deepening inequality along racial, ethnic, class, and gender lines—in the vein of Medical Apartheid and Killing the Black Body.
With clear-eyed research and lush prose, A History of the World in Six Plagues is “a breathtaking journey through the intertwined histories of contagions and systemic inequities that have shaped our history” (Uché Blackstock, New York Times bestselling author).
Princeton-trained historian Edna Bonhomme’s examination of humanity’s disastrous treatment of pandemic disease 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 the patterns of discrimination in the face of disease. Also a rising call to action, this “tour de force…will change the way people think about public health and histories of medicine” (Dr. Tiffany N. Florvil, author of Mobilizing Black Germany).
With clear-eyed research and lush prose, A History of the World in Six Plagues is “a breathtaking journey through the intertwined histories of contagions and systemic inequities that have shaped our history” (Uché Blackstock, New York Times bestselling author).
Princeton-trained historian Edna Bonhomme’s examination of humanity’s disastrous treatment of pandemic disease 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 the patterns of discrimination in the face of disease. Also a rising call to action, this “tour de force…will change the way people think about public health and histories of medicine” (Dr. Tiffany N. Florvil, author of Mobilizing Black Germany).
About the Author
Photograph by Carleen Coulter
Edna Bonhomme is a historian of science, culture writer, and book critic whose work has appeared in Al Jazeera, The Atlantic, Esquire, Frieze magazine, The Guardian, The Nation, London Review of Books, The Washington Post, and more. She is coeditor of After Sex, a collection of essays, poems, and short stories. She earned a PhD from Princeton University, a master’s degree from Columbia University, and a bachelor’s degree from Reed College. She previously held fellowships at the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science, the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, the Camargo Foundation, Baldwin for the Arts, and Nancy B. Negley Artists Residency Program at Maison Dora Maar. Edna is a recipient of the Robert Silvers Foundation Grant for Works in Progress and the Andy Warhol Foundation Arts Grant.
Product Details
- Publisher: Atria/One Signal Publishers (March 11, 2025)
- Length: 320 pages
- ISBN13: 9781982197858
Browse Related Books
Raves and Reviews
"Intellectually charged, deeply personal, and exhaustively researched."
—The Lancet
"A breathtaking journey [...] Bonhomme not only sheds light on past injustices but challenges us to confront our history and envision a more compassionate future."
—Uché Blackstock, New York Times bestselling author of Legacy
"If everyone read Edna Bonhomme’s incredible, humane, insightful book—and I hope they do—we might stand a chance of actually breaking the cycle of neglect and panic."
—Ed Yong, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of the New York Times bestsellers I Contain Multitudes and An Immense World
"Edna Bonhomme narrates centuries of the human-microbial dance, laying out how our destinies, liberties, and values are determined by how humans negotiate life on earth with our smallest living neighbors. Brilliant, tender and illuminating."
—Steven W. Thrasher, PhD, author of the award-winning book The Viral Underclass: The Human Toll When Inequality and Disease Collide
"Bonhomme’s frank, timely critique of the Western medical field and our faltering health care system reveals how it is deeply entangled with colonialism and capitalism."
—BookPage (starred review)
"Engaging and poignant."
—Salon
"The lessons offered in A History of the World in Six Plagues could not be more urgent."
—The Baffler
"A searing attack on historical injustices."
—Kirkus Reviews
“A powerful book that shines a light on the parts of life we'd rather ignore, and the beauty that can arise from horror."
—Sarah Jaffe, author of From the Ashes: Grief and Revolution
Resources and Downloads
High Resolution Images
-
Book Cover Image (jpg): A History of the World in Six Plagues
eBook 9781982197858
-
Author Photo (jpg): Edna Bonhomme Photograph by Carleen Coulter(0.1 MB)
Any use of an author photo must include its respective photo credit
