- Paperback: 336 pages
- Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd; New edition edition (22 Feb 1979)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0140551395
- ISBN-13: 978-0140551396
- Product Dimensions: 27.8 x 21.8 x 2.6 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
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Amazon Bestsellers Rank:
156,280 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #17 in Books > Science & Nature > Medicine > Medical Sciences A-Z > Pathology > Microbiology & Virology
- #29 in Books > Science & Nature > Medicine > Diseases & Disorders > Infectious & Contagious Diseases
- #33 in Books > Health, Family & Lifestyle > Medical & Healthcare Practitioners > Internal Medicine > Diseases & Disorders > Infectious & Contagious Diseases
- See Complete Table of Contents
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Product Description
Product Description
This book describes the dramatic impact of infectious diseases on the rise and fall of civilisations. Plague demoralized the Athenian army during the Peloponnesian war, and ravaged the Roman Empire. In the 16th century smallpox was the decisive agent that allowed Cortez with only 600 men to conquer the Aztec empire, whose subjects numbered millions. As recently as 1918-19 an epidemic of influenza claimed twenty-one million victims, and seemed to threaten civilization itself. Diseases such as syphilis, cholera, smallpox and malariahave been devastating to humanity for centuries. Now professor McNeill, through an accumulation of evidence, demonstrates the central role of pestilence in human affairs and the extent to which it has changed the course of history.
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First Sentence
Before fully human populations evolved, we must suppose that like other animals our ancestors fitted into an elaborate, self-regulating ecological balance. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index
Before fully human populations evolved, we must suppose that like other animals our ancestors fitted into an elaborate, self-regulating ecological balance. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Men and infectious organisms have long had an uneasy relationship: diseases like smallpox, the plague, measles and in more recent years influenza have carried off huge percentages of the population when they met a new population with no immunity. After 5 to 6 generations the grown-up population had developed enough immunity to turn the dreaded disease into a childhood affliction.
William McNeill reasons in this book that for full-blown plagues to occur one needs large groups of people, such as cities and he theorizes about the influence that micro-organisms and plagues may have had on such diverse historical events as the development of civilization in China, the downfall of the Roman empire, the origin of the Renaissance, the conquest of the Americas and the industrial revolution.
Even though definite proof is often lacking, the reasoning at most times is quite convincing even though it may be somewhat simplified here and there. The original version of this book dates from 1976 but is still very valid for our days. It is a shame that in the 1998 preface the author does not mention that diseases like malaria and tuberculosis, which are in the original text described as disease that have been fought successfully, are very much on the rise again and nowadays form the part of the "big three" of most lethal infectious diseases together with HIV/AIDS.
William McNeill reasons in this book that for full-blown plagues to occur one needs large groups of people, such as cities and he theorizes about the influence that micro-organisms and plagues may have had on such diverse historical events as the development of civilization in China, the downfall of the Roman empire, the origin of the Renaissance, the conquest of the Americas and the industrial revolution.
Even though definite proof is often lacking, the reasoning at most times is quite convincing even though it may be somewhat simplified here and there. The original version of this book dates from 1976 but is still very valid for our days. It is a shame that in the 1998 preface the author does not mention that diseases like malaria and tuberculosis, which are in the original text described as disease that have been fought successfully, are very much on the rise again and nowadays form the part of the "big three" of most lethal infectious diseases together with HIV/AIDS.
1 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
After having a 1st Edition of this splendid piece of academic research which I treasured, like a twit, I lost it ... Doh (:lol:) Thankfully I now have another copy which is an essential tome in my personal library - Others are available for you too, dear reader, used, but in good condition, and at very reasonable prices. I have never found anything quite like it, and it forms the basis for my knowledge and understanding of this often gruesome, but nevertheless crucial aspect of History. It should be on every Reading List for the academic and casual study of History, if it is not already so?
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
55 reviews
73 of 74 people found the following review helpful
Mankind - the Parasite and the Host
7 Jan 2002
Format:Paperback
Plagues and Peoples is an informative and very readable summary of the relationship between mankind and disease. The author consistently views disease as a parasite and describes the history of plagues in terms of a parasite interacting with a host population. The parasite and the host interact and, over time, reach an equilibrium within the population that allows the both the parasite and the host to survive.
The most interesting feature of the book is his portrayal of mankind not only as a host, but also as a parasite himself. He uses the term macroparasite to describe human institutions and phenomena that also drain energy and resources from producers. For example, very high taxes or rents, Medieval labor laws and practices, war, and forced migration all drain communities and nations as surely as disease. He provides excellent, while still brief, commentary on the interaction between microparasites and macroparasites and the resultant depopulation of certain areas during certain periods. One might argue that this is not a newly observed correlation, but it has certainly never been explained as clearly and succintly as it is done here.
McNeill covers a range of topics. There is, of course, discussion of the plague and mankinds response to it. There us also commentary on leprosy. Why for example, was leprosy, so common in Western Europe and the Middle East in biblical times, to dissapear in the Middle Ages. ( The answer is not what you think. ) Did syphillis originate in the Americas ? If so it may have been the Aztecs' revenge on the conquistadors. Why are there childhood diseases ?
McNeill's arguements are somtimes intuitive and are, in some cases, based on limited data, especially when he examines the history of disease in Asia and India. However, he is careful to couch his observations in limited terms and clearly points out the limitations of the data. I found this to be a refreshing break from, for example, Guns, Germs and Steel, where the author used very limited data to draw absolute conclusions.
The new introduction ( the book was first publised in 1986 )has an alternate viewpoint on AIDS. He argues that, at the moment, AIDS as an epidemic does not rank among the great killers of mankind such as the plague. He draws some interesting parallels between the current AIDS epidemic and the historical spread of syphillis. I am not sure if I agree with his position, but it was interesting to hear something other than the usual end of the world scenario that often comes out of discussions of AIDS.
The most interesting feature of the book is his portrayal of mankind not only as a host, but also as a parasite himself. He uses the term macroparasite to describe human institutions and phenomena that also drain energy and resources from producers. For example, very high taxes or rents, Medieval labor laws and practices, war, and forced migration all drain communities and nations as surely as disease. He provides excellent, while still brief, commentary on the interaction between microparasites and macroparasites and the resultant depopulation of certain areas during certain periods. One might argue that this is not a newly observed correlation, but it has certainly never been explained as clearly and succintly as it is done here.
McNeill covers a range of topics. There is, of course, discussion of the plague and mankinds response to it. There us also commentary on leprosy. Why for example, was leprosy, so common in Western Europe and the Middle East in biblical times, to dissapear in the Middle Ages. ( The answer is not what you think. ) Did syphillis originate in the Americas ? If so it may have been the Aztecs' revenge on the conquistadors. Why are there childhood diseases ?
McNeill's arguements are somtimes intuitive and are, in some cases, based on limited data, especially when he examines the history of disease in Asia and India. However, he is careful to couch his observations in limited terms and clearly points out the limitations of the data. I found this to be a refreshing break from, for example, Guns, Germs and Steel, where the author used very limited data to draw absolute conclusions.
The new introduction ( the book was first publised in 1986 )has an alternate viewpoint on AIDS. He argues that, at the moment, AIDS as an epidemic does not rank among the great killers of mankind such as the plague. He draws some interesting parallels between the current AIDS epidemic and the historical spread of syphillis. I am not sure if I agree with his position, but it was interesting to hear something other than the usual end of the world scenario that often comes out of discussions of AIDS.
34 of 36 people found the following review helpful
panoramic view of history
25 Jun 2003
Format:Paperback
History can be written from two major vantage points. From the top of a mountain, with broad brush strokes, showing the major streams and landmarks, the BIG picture. Spenser and Toynbee are such historians, so is this book. The other view is from the trenches, the pieces, the small connections that we find so fascinating and absorbing. I believe that the big picture view of this book is a result of how it came into being as an elaboration of a single constellation of ideas that the author discovered while working on _The Rise of the West_, he found they interesting and continued to build the structure around these ideas in this book.
The book is about a collection of related ideas:
Parasitism--as he defines two types macro and micro.
Micro is the form we are familiar with as disease, the times viruses, bacteria, protozoan begin to use us as their energy and food source, to our consternation. He further defines two flavors: epidemic and endemic. Epidemic is the form in bubonic plague that swept Europe for 500 years at regular intervals. endemic is the idea of a parasitic form like the liver flukes that effect irrigated agriculture the world over, or like the civilized childhood diseases that effect the body politic like measles, mumps, smallpox.
Macroparasitism is this author's contribution to the discussion, unique to him as far as i know. Those other human's that prey on the weaker, less organized, less mobile etc. Epidemic macro are the Mongols(which are the topic of what i think is the best chapter in the book) or those horseman like in the movie the "Seventh Samari" who sweep out of the steppes or mountains to seize the harvest. Endemic macro are the priests, kings, emperors, tax farmers, etc who take the hard earned food from the producers without adequate recompense.
Using these ideas he ventures to paint those broad strokes, those vistas in history to show how the major currents, the big pieces fit. To this end the book is very well done, always absorbing, always enough detail to support but not to overwhelm the reader. Yet pithy and curiosity arousing enough to drive you to look into his sources, the real mark of good history.
I was pleased enough to get _Rise of the West_ and will start it next.
thanks for reading the review, i hope you get as much out of the book as did i.
richard williams
22 of 22 people found the following review helpful
Will change the way you look at the world
16 Oct 2003
Format:Paperback
This is one of those handful of books that will change the way you look at our world. History will never seem quite the same when you finish.
Several earlier reviewers have done a great job of summarizing and analyzing the book. It is unfortunate that this book was given as a high school assignment, and then the students were asked to review it on Amazon. Is it any wonder they gave it 2 or 3 stars, and said it was difficult to understand? Most 15-year-olds do not have the background to fully appreciate this type of work, and unfortunately their reviews skew the book's rating.
Several earlier reviewers have done a great job of summarizing and analyzing the book. It is unfortunate that this book was given as a high school assignment, and then the students were asked to review it on Amazon. Is it any wonder they gave it 2 or 3 stars, and said it was difficult to understand? Most 15-year-olds do not have the background to fully appreciate this type of work, and unfortunately their reviews skew the book's rating.
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