Pathogenesis

Praise

“It’s not often you pick up a book that promises to alter your entire understanding of the story of humanity.”—Lit Hub “Most Anticipated Books of 2023”

“This sweeping history is Kennedy’s debut, and a powerfully argued one. . . . Pathogenesis sets out, like Yuval Noah Harari’s Sapiens or Peter Frankopan’s recent The Earth Transformed, to reinterpret the entire history of mankind. . . . A fascinating and pacey run through the history of humanity from an unfamiliar perspective.”—The Times (U.K.)

“Thrilling and eye-opening . . . Jonathan Kennedy explores the enormous role played by some of the tiniest life on earth: the power of plagues in shaping world history.”—Lewis Dartnell, author of The Knowledge

“I love this surprising, learned, fascinating book; it brings human arrogance into sharp relief, reminding us that the real masters of the universe are microbes. Jonathan Kennedy travels through history, unpicking everything we thought we knew; we are but the pawns and playthings of viruses and bacteria. . . . Mind-blowing stuff.”—Cal Flyn, author of Islands of Abandonment

“This book challenges some of the greatest clichés about colonialism and leaves you wondering why you ever gave them the time of day. . . . A revelation.”—Sathnam Sanghera, author of Empireland

“From the fall of Rome to the Spanish conquest of the Americas to the Industrial Revolution, germs have played as much a role in history as guns, generals, and ‘great men.’ In a timely updating of William McNeill’s Plagues and Peoples, Jonathan Kennedy restores the microbes of infectious disease to their rightful place in the story of human evolution and the rise and fall of civilizations. . . . History at its best.”—Mark Honigsbaum, author of The Pandemic Century

“How a virus might have written human history . . . This is a fascinating, readable, and superbly researched account of how infectious diseases have shaped our history.”—David Christian, author of Origin Story

“[Full of] lessons to ponder for our own pandemic-hobbled time.”—Kirkus Reviews

“Kennedy debuts with a virtuoso analysis of the fallout from encounters between deadly viral and bacterial pathogens and human populations that lacked immunity. . . . He marshals a wealth of surprising scholarship in lucid and succinct prose. The result is a fascinating look at history from the perspective of its tiniest protagonists.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review)