I read this for a university course about historical outbreaks and their effect on shaping science, healthcare, society and population fluctuations. I appreciate that the author uses a humanist approach to history while bringing in a scientific perspective. That being said, it's not completely accurate and he sometimes overly relies on anecdotal evidence to make a point that would be better served by acknowledging ambiguity. This is especially apparent when touching on colonialism in the Americas, which neglects to include Indigenous scholarship.