A History of the World in Six Plagues

A deeply reported, insightful, and literary account of humankind's battles with epidemic disease and their outsized role in deepening inequality along racial, ethnic, class and gender lines.

Epidemic diseases enter the world by chance, but they become catastrophic by human design.

With clear-eyed research and lush prose, A History of the World in Six Plagues shows that throughout history, outbreaks of disease have been exacerbated by and gone on to further expand the racial, economic and sociopolitical divides we allow to fester in times of good health.

Princeton-trained historian Edna Bonhomme's examination of humanity's disastrous treatment of pandemic disease takes us across place and time from Port-au-Prince to Tanzania, and from plantation-era America to our modern COVID-19-scarred world to unravel shocking truths about the patterns of discrimination in the face of disease. Based on in-depth research and cultural analysis, Bonhomme explores Cholera, HIV/AIDS, the Spanish Flu, Sleeping Sickness, Ebola, and COVID-19 amidst the backdrop of unequal public policy. But much more than a remarkable history, A History of the World in Six Plagues is also a rising call for change.

An expansive portraiture of how colonialism and confinement have influenced our understanding of illness and humanity. Thankfully, due to the author's talent and sheer strength in combining personal narrative with history, this book is also tender as it tackles some of the most stigmatized subjects of our time. -- Morgan Jerkins, author of WANDERING IN STRANGE LANDS
Bonhomme embarks on a breathtaking journey through the intertwined histories of contagions and systemic inequities that have shaped our history. With poignant insights and compelling personal narratives, she reveals the stories of marginalized individuals and communities often overlooked in society. Bonhomme's thought-provoking exploration not only sheds light on past injustices but challenges us to confront our history and envision a more compassionate future. -- Uché Blackstock, author of LEGACY
The history of the world is a history of human's usually futile attempts at control: at containing other humans and overpowering the more-than-human world. In this meticulously researched book, Edna Bonhomme shows us the ways that contagious illness frustrates those attempts at control, and how people too have resisted captivity and found ways to care for one another in the worst of circumstances. A powerful book that shines a light on the parts of life we'd rather ignore, and the beauty that can arise from horror. -- Sarah Jaffe, author of FROM THE ASHES

Edna Bonhomme is a historian of science, culture writer and book critic and is a contributing editor for Frieze Magazine. She is coeditor of the book After Sex and her essays have appeared in Esquire, Guardian, The Atlantic, London Review of Books, The Nation and elsewhere. She earned a PhD in history of science from Princeton University. Edna previously held fellowships at the Max Planck Institute, the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, the Camargo Foundation, and Baldwin for the Arts. She has received awards from the Robert Silvers Foundation and the Andy Warhol Foundation. She lives in Berlin, Germany.

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