Plagues upon the earth : disease and the course of human history / Kyle Harper.

"Plagues upon the Earth is a history of human civilization and the germs that have shaped its course. At every stage in our species' past, micro-organisms have had macro-effects on the development of human societies. Kyle Harper proposes the first history of human disease to make full use of a radical new source of evidence: pathogen genomes as a biological archive and window into prehistoric times. We can now begin to reconstruct the natural history of human disease at the molecular level, tracing the biographies of the viruses, bacteria, and protozoa that have haunted our species. The story reveals, Harper will show, the continuing importance of the deep past in determining the patterns of global divergence today. Plagues upon the Earth puts the dynamic two-way relationship between humanity and its germs in the foreground. The takeover and transformation of the planet by Homo sapiens has been the most powerful force shaping the evolution of microbial pathogens, and in turn, pathogen evolution has been a decisive influence on the destiny of human societies. From humanity's dispersal out of Africa to the rise of agriculture and complex civilizations, from the great pandemics of the medieval world to the age of global expansion and industrialization, from the modern increase in life expectancy to the ongoing threats of microbial resistance and emerging pathogens like HIV and Ebola, disease evolution has been and remains a primary, powerful, and unpredictable factor in human history. This will be the story of how we made our germs, and how our germs made the world as we know it. Harper aims to cover the entire timespan of Homo sapiens and to set the history of our species in deep perspective. The pathogens that exist today are the heirs of millions of years of evolution. Similarly, the patterns of economic development, and the roots of global inequality, have distant origins. Thus, Harper aims to bring together two bodies of literature: the history of disease and the study of geography and social development. The book is global in coverage, insisting on the importance of understanding how the tropics and temperate zones, the Old World and the New World, differ and interact throughout the course of history. Viruses, bacteria, and protozoa - in all their peculiarity and specificity - have played an enormous part in shaping the different outcomes experienced by human societies. Plagues upon the Earth combines biology, geography, and economics to understand these differences but emphasizes the central importance of evolution as a source of constant change. The past is always present in the history of disease, and the future is always unpredictable. The story continues right up to our own world. The book closes with a reflection on antibiotic resistance as a form of evolution that continues the ancient molecular antagonism between pathogens and host immune systems, and the importance of seeing this struggle in a broader environmental framework. Freedom from infectious disease remains an unachieved goal for our species, which is more interconnected than ever. The biology of infectious disease has been one of the great forces shaping the patterns of global development, but only with a sense of history - of the interplay of change, conjunction, and chance - can we begin to understand the intertwined story of human societies and their germs"-- Provided by publisher.

A sweeping germ's-eye view of history from human origins to global pandemics. Plagues upon the Earth is a monumental history of humans and their germs. Weaving together a grand narrative of global history with insights from cutting-edge genetics, Kyle Harper explains why humanity's uniquely dangerous disease pool is rooted deep in our evolutionary past, and why its growth is accelerated by technological progress. He shows that the story of disease is entangled with the history of slavery, colonialism, and capitalism, and reveals the enduring effects of historical plagues in patterns of wealth, health, power, and inequality. He also tells the story of humanity's escape from infectious disease--a triumph that makes life as we know it possible, yet destabilizes the environment and fosters new diseases. Panoramic in scope, Plagues upon the Earth traces the role of disease in the transition to farming, the spread of cities, the advance of transportation, and the stupendous increase in human population. Harper offers a new interpretation of humanity's path to control over infectious disease--one where rising evolutionary threats constantly push back against human progress, and where the devastating effects of modernization contribute to the great divergence between societies. The book reminds us that human health is globally interdependent--and inseparable from the well-being of the planet itself. Putting the COVID-19 pandemic in perspective, Plagues Upon the Earth tells the story of how we got here as a species, and it may help us decide where we want to go.

Princeton : Princeton University Press, [2021]

x, 686 pages : illustrations, maps, charts ; 25 cm.

Introduction: microorganisms and macrohistory -- Part I. Fire. Mammals in a microbe's world ; Prometheus among the primates ; Where the bloodsuckers aren't -- Part II. Farms. Dung and death ; The sneezing ape ; The ends of the old world -- Part III. Frontiers. Conquests and contagions ; The unification of the tropics ; Of lice and men -- Part IV. Fossils. The wealth and health of nations ; Disease and global divergence ; The disinfected planet -- Appendix: Checklist of major identified species of human pathogens.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 521-670) and index.