Mustafa Abbass

*I received an eARC from the publisher Pen & Sword History via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.* For many people, the 2020 outbreak of COVID-19 has been a stark reminder of the power of infectious disease. Workplaces shuttered by lockdown measures, faces covered with medical-grade masks, social media saturated with infection statistics and political controversies. In a few months, the current COVID-19 pandemic has transformed the world. It has shown how the biggest threat to our modern way of life may, in fact, be microscopic. More than six million lives taken by the disease caused by SARS-CoV-2 as of April 2022. Douglas Boyd, being a historian and not a medical professional, did a good job in setting the scene to the casual reader by explaining the medical terminology that the reader is going to come across in the book, and he placed most of these terms in the glossary upfront—which was very thoughtful of him. Infectious diseases have always been part of life; however, the world is more vulnerable to a global pandemic than ever before. Our growing human and animal populations, interconnected global economy, and ability to synthesize new microbes all make the emergence and spread of novel fatal diseases a real possibility. The book gives a grounded, yet gripping analysis of how deadly infections can spread and disrupt our social order. You’ll learn the science behind these diseases as well as some frightening forecasts about possible outbreaks to come. Although the book covers a lot of the well-known plagues and pandemics that struck civilizations of old and those new, it was skewed towards Europe-centric ones, which is understandable but noteworthy. The mini stories scattered in the book, from people witnessing these plagues and pandemics, were a nice touch and added a bit of intrigue to the otherwise factful dreary book. Having said that, and as a life science professional and a firm believer in the power of stories, I had to knock this book down to a 3-star rating. Don’t get me wrong, I still like the book, and it is stack-full of facts and historical titbits that were informative and alarming, but the chronological flow, the anecdotal flow, was lacking, and the sprinkled first-hand accounts didn’t help overcome this feeling of disconnection from the flow. Boyd had a lot to add, and one can tell from the way he had those interrupting sentences from different timelines disseminating the paragraphs. He did an amazing job researching all the different sections of the book, but I believe the book was rushed, it needed more polishing and a coherent narrative of the overarching ideas. This rush may have been caused by external causes, for the publishing of the book coincided with the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic—I’m not pointing fingers. My recommendation: If you’re one who’ve read about plagues and pandemics before and have a good grasp of the history and science behind them, I don’t recommend this book for you. For if you want a refresher of the things you know, a quick internet search will give you a better and faster answer. On the other hand, if you’re a casual reader interested in the history of pandemics, then this book is a good starting point for you—that is, if you don’t mind the choppy “story”-line and are here just for the facts and names.