Plagues and Peoples,   ISBN:9780385121224

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McNeill writes in an interesting and engaging style that is sometimes difficult to find in newer scientific texts. The weight of the argument is obvious, so that the reader cannot take lightly this unusual approach to history. McNeill proposes the existence of parallel equilibria in the biological world that are historically constant. For example: "Ever since language allowed human cultural evolution to impinge upon age-old processes of biological evolution, humankind has been in a position to upset older balances of nature in quite the same way that disease upsets the natural balances within a host's body." Discussion of balances on macro and micro scale is original and provokes reconsideration of our place in the world. Similarly, it provides a better picture of microorganismal niches.

In regards to the role of the microorganism, Plagues and Peoples represents a perspective of the time prior to the eradication of smallpox. This perspective is slowly drifting into the slipstream of history, though it is critical to retain it in order to fully comprehend the gravity of the eradication and to realize opportunities of the future. Reading is highly recommended for all those who have not lived with the terror of the world's greatest scourge, without the knowledge of humankind's ability to evade the ravages of such disease.

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I am starting to believe I have a soft spot for environmental history due to my strong fondness of this book. Yes the book is much about epidemiology, but the focus is also very much on how certain diseases were possible within certain environments - how they got there, how they survived there, and how those environments were affected in the way of future outbreaks, food cultivation, population growth/reduction, etc.

You will not get a lot of unknown facts about diseases from this book as the majority of the time periods addressed were prior to formal record keeping and disease identification. However, you will get a great exercise of the mind in the way of a priori thinking and cause and effect relationships. McNeil does a great job in showing us how the evidence that is available - evidence from sources such as religious writings, population records, and recent day archeological finds - can be constructed to shed light on when certain pandemics/epidemics broke out, what they more than likely were, how the specific viruses affected populations, how the human body reacted to the viruses over time, and how those viruses in return reacted to the human body.

Although this book's main subject is epidemiology, it is very similar (although a precursor) to books like Guns, Germs and Steel in that it addresses various macroparisitic and microparisitic effects on the growth of civilizatoins. However, its focus on diseases makes it particularly interesting and provides a sort of mental anchor when thinking about the multitude of variables that has shaped our world. Yes, I can appreciate that after reading this book I am now more aware of the major viruses/diseases that affected our history, but more than anything, that ebb and flow thinking of how the big picture comes to be is more concreted in my mind. And this is the book's greatest value to me.

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A must-read for the human race. A world history view of the impact that disease has had on all aspects of our existance here on earth. Just as profound and riveting as the first time that I read it in 1979!

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An epidemiologist's guide to history? Or a historian's recount of epidemiology? William Hardy McNeill's Plagues and Peoples occupies a unique niche at the crossroads of both biology and history where an argument made either way could be justified. Written as a response to his earlier work The Rise of the West, McNeill provides an intriguingly discerning - and clairvoyantly cautionary - perspective on how pathogenic agents have both mediated and exploited the building of human civilizations. The author first introduces the reader to the pathogen as a parasite and describes the evolution of human history as the cause and effects of large-scale parasite-host interactions. From the parasite's perspective, it must continuously toggle with its human host to achieve an equilibrium that allows enough of its host to survive to support its own survival. Yet, from our point of view, the equilibrium is a mark of immunity, and historically, a go-ahead for civilization to flourish, all the while unwittingly providing our parasitic cohorts with a greater reservoir for proliferation and adaptability.

McNeill organizes his opus across 200+ pages, divided into six sections, from the humble beginnings of man as isolated hunter-gatherer groups to the rise of nations and trans-continental globalization. The central story is the Mongol expansion of the first millennium AD, which introduced the Southeast Asian bubonic plague throughout the rest of Eurasia through conquest and commerce, eventually leading to the plague's most infamous naturalized pandemic in Europe during the 15th and 16th centuries. As Europe recovers and later flourishes via industry and foreign trade, it repeats the pathogenic effect of the Mongol conquest globally, paving the way for Western expansion and colonization of the later centuries. Recent outbreaks and pandemics, such as that of modern-day HIV and AIDs, as McNeill argues, are merely repetitions of these past trends. The author cautions, particularly in the last section, that as human civilization continues to globalize, changes in human behavior will continue to encourage more cross-fertilization of strains of parasitic species, and that our primary response to these parasites with new medicines - antibiotics, vaccines, and pesticides - will serve less as an effective preventive measure and more as an encouragement to our parasites to rapidly evolve and adapt to its host.

Plagues and Peoples covers a range of topics, stemming predominantly from humanity's response to parasitic exploitation of us, and likewise, parasites' responses to its hosts' exploitation of natural and even human-made resources. Most enticing is the book's timeless clairvoyance; Plagues and Peoples' message is just as impactful (perhaps even moreso) today as it was during its first publishing in 1976. McNeill writes clearly, supporting his central thesis with an effective amount of detailed notes and factual data, when available. Given the limited data he has, McNeill still masterfully presents the evidence in a complementing and cohesive manner that readers cannot help but be at least partially convinced of his argument by the end. To the curious scientist, McNeill also thoroughly lists his references to easily allow further research into a specific topic of choice, and there are plenty: the origins of common sexually-transmitted disease such as syphillis and HIV, the sudden emergence and seemingly just-as-quick disappearance of pathogenic ailments, the question of why so many pathogens focus on children...to name a few.

Yet, readers should be cautioned that Plagues and Peoples is first and foremost a broad-stroke painting of both history and epidemiology; to show how the big pieces fit together. To the data-inclined crowd, Plagues and Peoples leaves one with more assumptions than bona fide fact. Readers should also take note that much of McNeill's data-based evidence, when it is available, is based on the effects of an epidemic long after the outbreak began, and as such, it is difficult to verify the actual causes. For instance, the author's recount of the Black Plague - the centerpiece of the story - predominantly relies on facts and figures from European resources long after the plague decimated much of the European population. Comparatively, there are very few resources on the plague's actual spread and impact in Asia during the Mongol conquests, and much of McNeill's arguments at these crucial historical junctures are based on intuition. Complicating the picture further are the helminth infections supposedly endemic to the Far East during the Mongol period and the early days of Eurasian commerce. History, thus far, has less reliable sources of these macro-parasitic infections as it does for the micro-parasitic ones.

All in all, Plagues and Peoples serves as an invaluable resource on how human and disease interaction shape historical outcomes, and it does this very well. The book is absorbing, with just the amount of detail to be fascinating and innovative for the common reader, as well as provocative enough to drive the professional to further research. It is a must-have for any historian, medical anthropologist, scientist, or public health specialist who studies and works in human health.

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In this 1976 work, acclaimed historian William McNeill investigated the role of parasitism (both micro in the form of disease and macro in the form of rulers and governments) on the rise and fall of historical societies. To say that "Plagues and Peoples" was a success would be a monumental understatement as almost all subsequent discussions of the role of disease in history start from here. In discussing the way in which epidemics begin, run through a population and then may become a part of a series of non-lethal but persistent childhood diseases, McNeill arrives at a paradigm that fundamentally alters the way in which epidemiology is seen historically. In short, this work was and still is revolutionary.

The biggest drawback of the book is the style in which it is written. The text is written in the way in which a scholar might have communicated with interested colleagues outside of the typical discourse one might find in scholarly journals. As such, the language is somewhat geared towards the specialist and the text assumes the reader has at least a passing familiarity with the broader historical context of the societies the author is discussing. While this isn't as much of a problem for the discussions about epidemics affecting the west, there is a good bit of material about China, India, the Middle East and Africa (though less so in the last three). Also, the chapters are often rather long and span several thematic ideas which would likely have been separated into separate chapters had the book been written to more recent editorial guidelines. This makes the book a bit of tough sledding at times as it can tend to bog down with the sheer weight of the information being presented and a lack of a narrative thread at times.

For me, the most compelling discussion was the effect of the introduction of Old World diseases into the New World. The mortality statistics are stunning and offer a chilling prediction of what might happen if a disease to which there is little resistance is released into a modern urbanized setting.

I recommend this book to any student of history, epidemiology or sociology. Be prepared to push through some dense text but you will definitely be rewarded for your perseverance.