Pathogenesis

A History of the World in Eight Plagues

By: Jonathan Kennedy

Narrated by: Jonathan Kennedy

Length: 9 hrs and 23 mins

Publisher's summary

NATIONAL BESTSELLER • A “gripping” (The Washington Post) account of how the major transformations in history—from the rise of Homo sapiens to the birth of capitalism—have been shaped not by humans but by germs

“Superbly written . . . Kennedy seamlessly weaves together scientific and historical research, and his confident authorial voice is sure to please readers of Yuval Noah Harari or Rutger Bregman.”—The Times (U.K.)

According to the accepted narrative of progress, humans have thrived thanks to their brains and brawn, collectively bending the arc of history. But in this revelatory book, Professor Jonathan Kennedy argues that the myth of human exceptionalism overstates the role that we play in social and political change. Instead, it is the humble microbe that wins wars and topples empires.

Drawing on the latest research in fields ranging from genetics and anthropology to archaeology and economics, Pathogenesis takes us through sixty thousand years of history, exploring eight major outbreaks of infectious disease that have made the modern world. Bacteria and viruses were protagonists in the demise of the Neanderthals, the growth of Islam, the transition from feudalism to capitalism, the devastation wrought by European colonialism, and the evolution of the United States from an imperial backwater to a global superpower. Even Christianity rose to prominence in the wake of a series of deadly pandemics that swept through the Roman Empire in the second and third centuries: Caring for the sick turned what was a tiny sect into one of the world’s major religions.

By placing disease at the center of his wide-ranging history of humankind, Kennedy challenges some of the most fundamental assumptions about our collective past—and urges us to view this moment as another disease-driven inflection point that will change the course of history. Provocative and brimming with insight, Pathogenesis transforms our understanding of the human story.

©2023 Jonathan Kennedy (P)2023 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

“[Kennedy] wrangles an astonishing breadth of material into easily accessible, plain prose. . . . Even readers familiar with the material will find [Pathogenesis] fascinating. . . . Kennedy will leave readers galvanized by the time they flip to the last page, having assured us that we could win the narrative back from germs—if we’re able to muster the political will to do so. Pathogenesis puts us in our rightful tiny place in the universe as this great, big—and terrifying, at times—world spins. But, Kennedy reminds us, we are not helpless.” —The Washington Post

“Full of amazing facts . . . Pathogenesis doesn’t only cover thousands of years of history—it seeks radically to alter the way the reader views many of the (often very well-known) events it describes.” —The Guardian

“Well-timed . . . [and] compelling . . . Kennedy’s book manages to end on a somewhat hopeful note. Yes, our trajectory is defined by microbes. But it’s also influenced by our reactions to them—and our acknowledgment of their power.” —The Atlantic

Good start, poor ending

I got the book to learn more about pathogens and their impact on human development, and found it addressed that well. But towards the end, the author injected his political views which detracted from the topic and prevented a more thoughtful analysis of trends in pathogens. Moreover, the author’s political views were naive and lacked common sense, which in turn, retrospectively tainted the whole book. I will not recommend this book.

Another Academic with a Hidden Agenda

Pathogenesis begins with great storytelling of our anthropological history woven with the apparent history of major disease outbreaks and the potential effects these diseases had on our history. But there is a point at which anthropology is put aside, and Kennedy’s personal opinions become the underlying narrative.

Whereas earlier parts of the book address a comprehensive view of the world’s humans and subpopulations, the later chapters focus on certain subpopulations and diseases as if to jump on the bandwagon of recent events to spark emotional response. Kennedy jumps the rails of telling of possible correlations between rises and falls of societies with disease outbreaks and takes a sharp turn into pushing personal ideals about how societies should govern public health. The author is entitled to his opinions, but he is far from qualified to dictate how world health should be governed. Further, the information presented in the book is insufficient for drawing such conclusions as it leaves out presentation and discussion of many other diseases (including those made by our own presence on earth), socio-economic situations, and world events that deserve consideration.

Readers should keep in mind that many academics such as Kennedy conduct their research and write papers and books such as this one insulated within their university walls with a goal to gain attention to bring funding to their universities to ‘further their research’ (i.e., keep their jobs). It really is no different than the journalist who is skilled at writing gripping headlines that drive the consumers to click on the links of their articles just to get the ad views that drive their profits.

I thank the author for some delightful storytelling of anthropological history, but if you are looking for scientific information on the origin and history of diseases, as the title would lead you to believe, this book is not for you.

Worth a read especially the early chapters

Early chapters fascinating. Political commentary of the later chapters obscures the argument and makes the book less compelling.

First half great; but gets worse and worse after that.

Author is excellent at dealing with historical issues and pathogens, and on these issues sticks to arguing/supporting his thesis (pathogens were a major factor in the direction of history). But as we get within the last one hundred years or so, he gets increasingly strident, shifting from Pathogens to his own political views. He is also endlessly in love with the totalitarian communist model of China, and his gullibility in believing everything they say (including that basically no one died there from COVID) is so extreme that it defies credulity. By the last chapter or so, I could barely push through the book. The author, sadly, may be a stark example of why people are suspicious of public health professionals. Too bad.

Interesting history

An interesting read with my favorite parts being the theories about disease in ancient history. As is expected, primacy is place on disease in shaping our history at the expense of other factors. The opinion on the “Great Man” theory is interesting.
The last chapters which are a treatise on modern disease and medicine seem less well thought out and miss much of the nuance which is necessary to understand modern problems. In defense of the author I’m the topic of COVID-19 and modern healthcare could easily be several volumes.

fascinating and compelling

Tremendously compelling overall and truly fascinating. Provides logical and simple rationale to explain the processes whereby pathogens fundamentally, integrally, and perhaps inevitably dictated the outcomes for many historical events, and ultimately, the current state of the globe. The process of learning about the affect of pathogens on nations, peoples, and races provides a lot of concomitant, granular information about historical figures, cities, social evolution, genetic evolution, racial, social, and economic disparities. Overall, this book had me muttering "wow" and "no way..." quite a lot. The author is an excellent narrator with a good voice. I'm recommending this book to most of my family and friends and have already sent a copy to my father. I'd encourage anyone to read/listen to this book just to be exposed to a very surprising perspective on the world.

Begins With Pathogenesis Ends In The Clouds

The first half is an interesting and up to date analysis of the course of biological human evolution, and later human history, from the perspective of pandemic type events. But the work veers badly off topic into the kind of sanctimonious and intellectually incoherent social and political commentary that is obnoxious to an educated critical thinker.

Fascinating tour through our evolution

Provides a insight into the major events in human evolution through the lens of microbes. I have a much better understanding of how human Health has played in not only evolution but human history. Excellent story telling with much facts.

A must read

Super informative. Takes commonly held narratives on world progress, and flips them on their head.

Great look at history and historical impacts of pathogens

Very high-level, but interesting and broad-ranging. Made me think about vaccine equity vs patents. Recommend mosquito by Timothy winegard for a deeper look into the impact of pathogens on human history.