A History of the World in Six Plagues is a timely examination of the role that confinement has played in fostering and hindering epidemics.

In a rare blend of rigorous research and truly compelling story-telling, Dr Edna Bonhomme traces the long history of viral outbreaks under conditions of social confinement-the plantation system, colonial camps, imprisonment, quarantine, factories-and reveals how these enclosed spaces fuel epidemics.

This is a book about the complicated histories of movement and stagnation, and about the time we live in, with a focus on the racialised history of several key epidemics from the impact of cholera on the plantation economy to HIV/AIDS outbreaks in US prisons.