Did you know that "Covid parties" have historical precedents? That massive social unrest and throngs of patients destroyed entire hospitals in 1830s Russia, when the Tsar, in an effort to stop cholera coming from Central Asia, was tearing down roads, destroying bridges, and giving (in vain) orders to 60,000 soldiers to prevent the movement of people to and from urban centers?

In this highly interesting overview of pandemics that have historically struck humanity, Christian W. McMillen describes how history is influenced by pandemics and how social behaviors affect the progression of pandemics.

The study of pandemics is extremely interesting from a medical standpoint anyway, as it also provides unexpected discoveries about culture and politics. From the Justinian plague (which killed over ten thousand people in a single night in Byzantine Constantinople) to the Ebola outbreak of 2014, McMillen traverses the significant pandemics in human history (plague, tuberculosis, malaria, smallpox, cholera, influenza, and HIV/AIDS), explaining how the distinct biological characteristics of each disease affected its pandemic spread.

He also analyzes the respective governmental responses—including quarantines, isolation, travel restrictions, and other forms of social control—and pays special attention to the post-pandemic development of public health and the explosion of medical research.

Writing in December 2016 and evaluating the relationship between poverty, diseases, and the geography of epidemics, McMillen predicted the need for governments to learn from past experiences and collaborate globally and proactively to prevent future outbreaks. Unfortunately, he was not heard.