In A History of the World in Six Plagues, historian Edna Bonhomme delivers a searing examination of how disease outbreaks—far from being equalizers—have long been shaped by systems of power and inequality. From cholera to COVID-19, Bonhomme traces the global legacy of six major plagues, revealing how public health crises are entangled with race, class, and political policy. Spanning continents and centuries, this urgent and beautifully crafted work is both a meticulous history and a call to rethink how we respond to future pandemics.
We emailed with Bonhomme about the hidden stories behind the world’s deadliest diseases, the intersection of science and social justice, and why history’s greatest epidemics are never just about medicine.
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