Plagues and Peoples

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Plagues and Peoples
William Hardy McNeill - Plagues and peoples.jpeg
Cover of the first edition
Author William H. McNeill
LanguageEnglish
Subjects epidemiological history
GenreNon-fiction
Published1976
Publisher Anchor Books, Garden City, New York
Publication placeUS
Pages369
ISBN 978-0-385-12122-4

Plagues and Peoples is a book on epidemiological history by historian William H. McNeill, published by Anchor Books in 1976. It was a critical and popular success, presenting a then novel view of infectious disease as both enabled by social and environmental conditions and molding the development of cultures.

Contents

Content

McNeill, a historian at the University of Chicago, analyzed epidemics as social as well as biological events, mediated by ecological, economic, and cultural factors [1] and in turn affecting the fate of cultures and thus central to history. [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] The book examines the effects of epidemics including smallpox in Mexico, the bubonic plague in China, typhoid in Europe, [7] and the Athenian plague, [8] and suggested a modified flu virus was likely to cause the next pandemic. [4] McNeill wrote in the introduction that the impetus for his researching and writing the book was the role played by smallpox in the fall of the Aztec Empire. [4]

McNeill also makes a broader comparison of civilization to disease, as a "macroparasite" that weakens societies but also confers political and bureaucratic protection as endemic diseases can confer protection against severe outbreaks of infection. [2] [3] [9] He envisaged a crucial balance between disease-causing "microparasites" and human "macroparasites" [8] and warned that human "parasitism" on the earth might lead to ecological catastrophe. [4]

Publication history

Plagues and Peoples was first published in the United States in 1976 by Anchor Books, a division of Doubleday. [3] [8] [10] A UK edition was published by Basil Blackwell in 1977. [11] [12] With the onset of the AIDS epidemic in the 1980s, a new preface was added to the book [5] in 1998. [13]

Reception

Plagues and Peoples was a critical success, hailed as a rare synthesis of patterns in epidemiology from a global perspective. [3] [8] [9] [14] [15] It sold well and has remained in print into the 2020s. [4]

The view presented in the book of epidemic disease as both a biological and a social phenomenon, its spread affected by environmental and social conditions, is now accepted within epidemiology. [1] It has been influential in historical studies. In particular, along with Alfred W. Crosby's The Columbian Exchange , McNeill's book popularized the view that European expansion into the Americas was facilitated by the diseases it introduced into indigenous populations. [2]

The book has been criticized as lacking evidence for some of its assertions [10] [16] and as Eurocentric, and some arguments have since been undermined, such as McNeill's rejection of a New World origin for syphilis. [2]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Sommerfeld, Johannes (2003). "Plagues and peoples revisited". EMBO Reports. 4 (suppl. 1): 532–34. doi:10.1038/sj.embor.embor845.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Whelchel, Aaron (October 2005). "Book Review: McNeill, William. Plagues and Peoples". World History Connected. 3 (1).
  3. 1 2 3 4 Leonard, John (October 25, 1976). "Books of the Times: PLAGUES AND PEOPLES. By William H. McNeill". The New York Times. p. 26.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 Harris, James Thornton (April 5, 2020). "Historian William McNeill Warned in 1976 that a Mutated Flu Virus Could Cause a Pandemic". History News Network.
  5. 1 2 Young, Ryan (September 2, 2020). "Retro Review: William H. McNeill – Plagues and Peoples (1976)". Competitive Enterprise Institute.
  6. ↑ Rowe, Adam (March 23, 2020). "Humanity's Greatest Foe: Pandemics Through the Ages". Quillette.
  7. ↑ Walker, Frank B. (September 11, 1976). "Contagious conquerors". The Montreal Star. p. 37 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. 1 2 3 4 Thomas, Keith (September 30, 1976). "Epidemic Man". New York Review of Books.
  9. 1 2 "PLAGUES AND PEOPLES by William H. McNeill". Kirkus Reviews. 1976. Retrieved October 21, 2025.
  10. 1 2 Norris, John (Spring 1979). "William H. McNeill, Plagues and Peoples". Bulletin of the History of Medicine (review). 53 (1): 145–47. JSTOR   44451303.
  11. ↑ "Plagues and Peoples. By William H. McNeill". Journal of Biosocial Science (review). 9 (4): 501–03. 1977. doi:10.1017/S0021932000011330.
  12. ↑ "Plagues and Peoples. By W. H. McNeill". Psychological Medicine (review). 8 (2): 351. May 1978. doi:10.1017/S0033291700014495.
  13. ↑ Subero, Gustavo (2016) [2013]. HIV in World Cultures: Three Decades of Representations. Abingdon / New York: Routledge. ISBN   978-1-4094-5398-7.
  14. ↑ Hollingsworth, T. H. (February 1978). "Plagues and Peoples William H. McNeill". The Economic History Review (review). 31 (1): 167. doi:10.2307/2595819. JSTOR   2595819.
  15. ↑ Norling, Bernard (October 1977). "William H. McNeill: Plagues and Peoples". The Review of Politics (review). 39 (4): 557–60. JSTOR   1407297.
  16. ↑ Ell, Stephen R. (March 1979). "Plagues and Peoples by William H. McNeill". The Journal of Modern History (review). 51 (1): 118–21. JSTOR   1877880.
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