Past & Present Articles Featured in OUP’s “History of Outbreaks Collection”

by the Past & Present editorial team

Our publisher Oxford University Press Academic has released a free to read collection of articles about the history of illness, disease and pandemics entitled “History of Outbreaks”. All articles in the series are free to read until 31/03/2020.

Oxford University Press Academic introduce the collection by saying that:

“When a disease occurs in greater numbers than expected in a community, region, or season, it is considered an outbreak. In addition to human suffering, outbreaks create panic, disrupt the social and economic structure, and can impede development in the affected communities. While we cannot predict exactly when or where the next epidemic or pandemic will begin, we can explore and learn from outbreaks of the past.”

There are four Past & Present articles, drawn from issues released in recent years as well as one which is still forthcoming. Please find them listed below:

*‘Loving Capitalism Disease’: Aids and Ideology in the People’s Republic of China, 1984–2000, Julian Gewirtz

*The Path to Pistoia: Urban Hygiene Before the Black Death, G. Geltner

*Rejecting Catastrophe: The Case of the Justinianic Plague, Lee Mordechai and Merle Eisenberg

*The Antonine Plague, Climate Change and Local Violence in Roman Egypt, Colin P. Elliott