Did Pandemics Make the Modern World?

Lockdown was one of the defining experiences of our lives, but it was far from unique in history.

From the plantation to the infirmary and from the leper colony to the stay at home order, contagion and confinement are inextricably intertwined.

In The History of the World in 6 Plagues, Edna Bonhomme investigates how fear, power, race science and colonial violence have shaped six of the most powerful plagues in history, and shaped our societies in turn.