PLAGUES AND PEOPLES.

Series; Peregrine books. Physical description; 330 pages ; 20 cm. Notes; Paperback. Bibliography. Summary; This book describes the dramatic impact of infectious diseases on the rise and fall of civilisations. Plague demoralized the Athenian army during the Peloponnesian war, and ravaged the Roman Empire. In the 16th century smallpox was the decisive agent that allowed Cortez with only 600 men to conquer the Aztec empire, whose subjects numbered millions. As recently as 1918-19 an epidemic of influenza claimed twenty-one million victims, and seemed to threaten civilization itself. Diseases such as syphilis, cholera, smallpox and malariahave been devastating to humanity for centuries. Now professor McNeill, through an accumulation of evidence, demonstrates the central role of pestilence in human affairs and the extent to which it has changed the course of history. Subjects; Epidemiology. Epidemics. Plague. History of Medicine. Disease Outbreaks - history. Epidemiology - history. Civilization - history. Epidemics - Social aspects. Epidemics - Social aspects - History. Plague - History. Civilization - Effects of epidemics, to 1975. civilization - effects - epidemics - man - epidemics - effects on civilization. Social & cultural history ; History of medicine ; Infectious & contagious diseases ; Medical microbiology & virology. History / Social History. Medical / History. Medical / Infectious Diseases. Medical / Microbiology. Genre; Student Collection.