**"Jenkins has organized his book around themes, and as he explores
them, he leads the reader back and forth through history, pointing out
parallels in humankind's responses to different epidemics...thoroughly
researched and cogently written..." ***-- New York Journal of Books
A look at the long history of epidemics and pandemics provides an
enthralling account of what we can expect of a post-COVID world
In a concise, authoritative, and gripping telling, Brian Michael Jenkins
-- one of our leading authorities on national security and an advisor to
governments, presidents and CEOs -- provides a masterly account of what
kind of future the planet might be facing ... by looking at the world's
long history of epidemics and discerning what was common about their
aftermath.
From a plague in Athens during the Peloponnesian War in 430 BCE, to
another in 540 that wiped out half the population of the Roman empire,
down through the Black Death in the Middle Ages and on through the 1918
flu epidemic (which killed between 50 and 100 million people) and this
century's deadly SARS outbreak, plagues have been a much more relentless
fact of life than many realize.
The legacy of epidemics, Jenkins observes, is not only one of lives lost
but of devastated economies and social disorder, all of which have
severe political repercussions.
Thus, each chapter of Plagues and Their Aftermath draws on those
historical precursors to focus on one particular aspect of their
aftermath: What happens to political systems? What happens in the area
of crime and terrorism? Do wars happen? What are the effects on
cultures? What was the impact of widespread fear and public hysteria, of
increased suspicion and scapegoating, of the spread of rumors and
conspiracy theories?
Jenkins' sobering analysis is riveting and thought-provoking reading for
general readers and specialists alike, and throws welcome light into
what many fear is a dark future.
