Plagues and Peoples

Epidemics, in William H. McNeill's account, are social as well as biological events, shaped by ecology, economics and culture and in turn shaping the fate of cultures. The University of Chicago historian wrote that smallpox and its part in the Aztec Empire's fall first prompted the research. His cases include the Athenian plague, smallpox in Mexico, typhoid in Europe and bubonic plague in China, and he suggested that the next pandemic would likely come from a modified flu virus. He also likens civilization to a macroparasite that weakens societies yet protects them. Anchor Books first issued it in 1976 to critical and popular success, and a later edition added a preface prompted by AIDS.

Patrick Collison lists it on his Bookshelf page.