For the last two years, we have gotten a lesson in how our world can be shaped by a disease.  COVID-19 has changed our families, the economy, our social interaction and our psychology. Far from being a unique historical phenomenon, Dr. Kyle Harper argues disease and our efforts to steer clear of them are the central forces that have always shaped human history. He explains how diseases have defined our history, and until relatively recently, they were almost always able to overcome what people threw at them. He also explains how technology and disease work hand-in-hand to usher in a new era of viruses, but also advances in how we combat them. Still, they almost always win.

Kyle Harper is on social media at twitter.com/oklahomaharper

His website is kyleharper.net

"Plagues Upon the Earth" is available from Princeton University Press at https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691192123/plagues-upon-the-earth

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