Epidemics and Pandemics: Their Impacts on Human History

Balancing current and historical issues, this volume of essays covers the most significant worldwide epidemics from the Black Death to AIDS.· Each of the 50 essays includes a bibliography for further reading on each subject and is cross-referenced to help the reader put the material into context· Glossary defines terms such as pandemic, germ theory, and virgin soil epidemic· Visuals such as an illustration of a 17th-century costume worn to ward off the plague and a photo of a panicked father carrying a polio-stricken daughter dramatize the effect of epidemics· Maps illustrate the spread of major pandemics, such as influenza in 1918· Sidebars feature source documents, such as an eyewitness account of the death of composer Frédéric Chopin or clergyman Cotton Mather's description of smallpox inoculation in 1721