Preface vii
1. The Nature of Plagues 1
2. Plagues, the Price of Being Sedentary 23
3. Six Plagues of Antiquity 43
4. An Ancient Plague, the Black Death 67
5. A Modern Plague, AIDS 89
6. Typhus, A Fever Plague 117
7. Malaria, Another Fever Plague 135
8. King Cholera 159
9. Smallpox, The Spotted Plague 191
10. Preventing Plagues 211
11. The Plague Protectors 231
12. The Great Pox Syphilis 255
13. The People's Plague: Tuberculosis 275
14. Leprosy, the Striking Hand of God 303
15. Six Plagues of Africa 313
16. Plagues without Germs 355
17. Plagues On Order 383
Appendix. Cells and Viruses 401
General Works on Disease and History 405
Notes 407
Index 419