This stunning, full-color hardback guide explores the role of disease in history and is illustrated throughout with a range of striking artworks, maps and diagrams.

This fascinating - and terrifying - book explains the impact that disease has had on human history over the millennia. It covers some of the most devastating epidemics in history, from the Antonine Plague of the 2nd century that brought the Roman Empire to its knees to the reshaping of society caused by the Black Death in Europe in the 14th century to the wave of influenza that swept through the world after World War I. The worst pandemics have claimed more lives than any way or other natural disaster - and there is no sign that they are going away, as the COVID-19 pandemic showed.

The authors explain how and why these terrifying plagues emerge and how societies have responded to the challenges they have brought. Whether it is deadly diseases like bubonic plague and influenza or more insidious killers like HIV, these pathogens have helped define the course of human history.