PATHOGENESIS: A HISTORY of the WORLD in EIGHT PLAGUES (audiobook) by Jonathan Kennedy

 












Duration: 9 hours, 23 minutes.
Unabridged.


Kennedy presents a compelling argument that disease has had a profound impact on world history by just telling a history of Europe from the days of cavemen up until now.

The first 45 minutes or so of this audiobook seemed to be wandering around and not going anywhere, but Kennedy was laying a strong foundation for the rest of the book.

The book makes it painfully obvious that humanity has bounced from one biological disaster to another. Humanity has adapted (either by behavior - like building sanitation systems to deal with body waste to control cholera) or biologically by simply having a large body count until those with immunity can rebuild (the Black Plague is a prime example.)

Kennedy persuasively argues that infection and disease helped the rise of Christianity, the rise of Islam, the end of feudalism, the rise of capitalism, and the European conquest of the Americas. Infection and disease helped create the system of African slavery in the New World and also prevented the European colonization of African until the late 1800s.

This is a very good book. I rate it 5 stars out of 5. It can be found on Amazon.com here: PATHOGENESIS: A HISTORY of the WORLD in EIGHT PLAGUES by Jonathan Kennedy.

Comments

Popular posts over the last 30 days

BRIAN EPSTEIN: A LIFE from BEGINNING to END (kindle) by Hourly History

VICKSBURG, 1863 by Winston Groom

JOHN DENVER: A LIFE from BEGINNING to END (kindle) by Hourly History

BEAT the REAPER (audiobook) by Josh Bazell

NPR AMERICAN CHRONICLES: WORLD WAR I (audiobook) by NPR

THE BIG EMPTY (Elvis Cole/Joe Pike #20) (audiobook) by Robert Crais

The Vision of the Anointed: Self-Congratulation as a Basis for Social Policy by Thomas Sowell

Lights Out: Islam, Free Speech and the Twilight of the West by Mark Steyn

Darwin's Plantation: Evolution's Racist Roots by Ken Ham and A. Charles Ware

THREE WEEKS to SAY GOODBYE by C.J. Box