Try free for 30 days
-
Pathogenesis
- How Germs Made History
- Narrated by: Jonathan Kennedy
- Length: 9 hrs and 27 mins
Failed to add items
Add to basket failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from Wish List failed.
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Buy Now for $26.99
No valid payment method on file.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
Listeners also picked
-
1177 B.C. (Revised and Updated)
- The Year Civilization Collapsed
- By: Eric H. Cline
- Narrated by: Eric H. Cline
- Length: 10 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This audiobook narrated by acclaimed archaeologist and best-selling author Eric Cline offers a breathtaking account of how the collapse of an ancient civilized world ushered in the first Dark Ages.
-
-
The rise and fall: Two millenniums BC.
- By Amazon Customer on 18-09-2023
-
Cave of Bones
- By: Lee Berger, John Hawks
- Narrated by: Lee Berger
- Length: 5 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the summer of 2022, Lee Berger lost 50 pounds in order to wriggle though impossibly small openings in the Rising Star cave complex in South Africa—spaces where his team has been unearthing the remains of Homo naledi, a proto-human likely to have coexisted with Homo sapiens some 250,000 years ago. Lead researcher Berger had never made his way into the dark, cramped, dangerous underground spaces where many of the naledi fossils had been found. Now he was ready to do so. Once inside the cave, Berger made shocking new discoveries that expand our understanding of this early hominid.
-
-
well read, interesting and suitably detailed
- By Anonymous User on 29-02-2024
-
The Great Mortality
- An Intimate History of the Black Death, the Most Devastating Plague of All Time
- By: John Kelly
- Narrated by: Matthew Lloyd Davies
- Length: 12 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The plague that devastated Asia and Europe in the 14th century has been of never-ending interest to both scholars and the general public. Many books on the plague rely on statistics to tell the story. In The Great Mortality, author John Kelly lends an air of immediacy and intimacy to his telling of the journey of the plague as it traveled from the steppes of Russia, across Europe, and into England, killing 75 million people—one third of the known population—before it vanished.
-
The Icepick Surgeon
- Murder, Fraud, Sabotage, Piracy, and Other Dastardly Deeds Perpetrated in the Name of Science
- By: Sam Kean
- Narrated by: Ben Sullivan
- Length: 11 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Science is a force for good in the world—at least usually. But sometimes, when obsession gets the better of scientists, they twist a noble pursuit into something sinister. Under this spell, knowledge isn’t everything, it’s the only thing—no matter the cost. Bestselling author Sam Kean tells the true story of what happens when unfettered ambition pushes otherwise rational men and women to cross the line in the name of science, trampling ethical boundaries and often committing crimes in the process.
-
-
Fascinating and exciting!
- By Anonymous User on 04-08-2021
-
American Prometheus
- The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer
- By: Kai Bird, Martin J. Sherwin
- Narrated by: Jeff Cummings
- Length: 26 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
J. Robert Oppenheimer was one of the iconic figures of the 20th century, a brilliant physicist who led the effort to build the atomic bomb but later confronted the moral consequences of scientific progress. When he proposed international controls over atomic materials, opposed the development of the hydrogen bomb, and criticized plans for a nuclear war, his ideas were anathema to powerful advocates of a massive nuclear buildup during the anti-Communist hysteria of the early 1950s.
-
-
Touching
- By Anju on 16-03-2018
-
Magisteria
- The Entangled Histories of Science & Religion
- By: Nicholas Spencer
- Narrated by: John Sackville
- Length: 16 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The true history of science and religion is a human one. It’s about the role of religion in inspiring, and strangling, science before the scientific revolution. It’s about the sincere but eccentric faith and the quiet, creeping doubts of the most brilliant scientists in history–Galileo, Newton, Faraday, Darwin, Maxwell, Einstein. Above all it’s about the question of what it means to be human and who gets to say–a question that is more urgent in the twenty-first century than ever before.
-
-
Comprehensive, disciplined and scholarly research
- By Michael Patterson on 29-03-2024
-
1177 B.C. (Revised and Updated)
- The Year Civilization Collapsed
- By: Eric H. Cline
- Narrated by: Eric H. Cline
- Length: 10 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This audiobook narrated by acclaimed archaeologist and best-selling author Eric Cline offers a breathtaking account of how the collapse of an ancient civilized world ushered in the first Dark Ages.
-
-
The rise and fall: Two millenniums BC.
- By Amazon Customer on 18-09-2023
-
Cave of Bones
- By: Lee Berger, John Hawks
- Narrated by: Lee Berger
- Length: 5 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the summer of 2022, Lee Berger lost 50 pounds in order to wriggle though impossibly small openings in the Rising Star cave complex in South Africa—spaces where his team has been unearthing the remains of Homo naledi, a proto-human likely to have coexisted with Homo sapiens some 250,000 years ago. Lead researcher Berger had never made his way into the dark, cramped, dangerous underground spaces where many of the naledi fossils had been found. Now he was ready to do so. Once inside the cave, Berger made shocking new discoveries that expand our understanding of this early hominid.
-
-
well read, interesting and suitably detailed
- By Anonymous User on 29-02-2024
-
The Great Mortality
- An Intimate History of the Black Death, the Most Devastating Plague of All Time
- By: John Kelly
- Narrated by: Matthew Lloyd Davies
- Length: 12 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The plague that devastated Asia and Europe in the 14th century has been of never-ending interest to both scholars and the general public. Many books on the plague rely on statistics to tell the story. In The Great Mortality, author John Kelly lends an air of immediacy and intimacy to his telling of the journey of the plague as it traveled from the steppes of Russia, across Europe, and into England, killing 75 million people—one third of the known population—before it vanished.
-
The Icepick Surgeon
- Murder, Fraud, Sabotage, Piracy, and Other Dastardly Deeds Perpetrated in the Name of Science
- By: Sam Kean
- Narrated by: Ben Sullivan
- Length: 11 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Science is a force for good in the world—at least usually. But sometimes, when obsession gets the better of scientists, they twist a noble pursuit into something sinister. Under this spell, knowledge isn’t everything, it’s the only thing—no matter the cost. Bestselling author Sam Kean tells the true story of what happens when unfettered ambition pushes otherwise rational men and women to cross the line in the name of science, trampling ethical boundaries and often committing crimes in the process.
-
-
Fascinating and exciting!
- By Anonymous User on 04-08-2021
-
American Prometheus
- The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer
- By: Kai Bird, Martin J. Sherwin
- Narrated by: Jeff Cummings
- Length: 26 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
J. Robert Oppenheimer was one of the iconic figures of the 20th century, a brilliant physicist who led the effort to build the atomic bomb but later confronted the moral consequences of scientific progress. When he proposed international controls over atomic materials, opposed the development of the hydrogen bomb, and criticized plans for a nuclear war, his ideas were anathema to powerful advocates of a massive nuclear buildup during the anti-Communist hysteria of the early 1950s.
-
-
Touching
- By Anju on 16-03-2018
-
Magisteria
- The Entangled Histories of Science & Religion
- By: Nicholas Spencer
- Narrated by: John Sackville
- Length: 16 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The true history of science and religion is a human one. It’s about the role of religion in inspiring, and strangling, science before the scientific revolution. It’s about the sincere but eccentric faith and the quiet, creeping doubts of the most brilliant scientists in history–Galileo, Newton, Faraday, Darwin, Maxwell, Einstein. Above all it’s about the question of what it means to be human and who gets to say–a question that is more urgent in the twenty-first century than ever before.
-
-
Comprehensive, disciplined and scholarly research
- By Michael Patterson on 29-03-2024
-
How They Broke Britain
- By: James O'Brien
- Narrated by: James O'Brien
- Length: 10 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Something has gone really wrong in Britain. Our economy has tanked, our freedoms are shrinking, and social divisions are growing. Our politicians seem most interested in their own careers, and much of the media only make things worse. We are living in a country almost unrecognisable from the one that existed a decade ago. But whose fault is it really? Who broke Britain and how did they do it?
-
-
Absolutely Captivating Read
- By L J Golland on 02-02-2024
-
X Marks the Spot
- The Story of Archaeology in Eight Extraordinary Discoveries
- By: Michael Scott
- Narrated by: Michael Scott
- Length: 10 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Uncovering the physical remains of our past is a quintessential human itch; the pursuit of every society from the ancients through to today. But the stories behind archaeological exploration and discovery - what we look for when, what we end up finding, and what we then do with it - tell us as much about ourselves today as they do about the past. Through eight sensational stories of discovery, Professor Michael Scott traces the evolution of modern archaeology from colonial expeditions to today's cutting-edge digs, unearthing traps, curses and buried treasure along the way.
-
-
A Captivating Archaeological Adventure!
- By Anonymous User on 27-06-2023
-
Stiff
- The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers
- By: Mary Roach
- Narrated by: Shelly Frasier
- Length: 8 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For two thousand years, cadavers have been involved in science's boldest strides and weirdest undertakings. They've tested France's first guillotines, ridden the NASA Space Shuttle, been crucified in a Parisian laboratory to test the authenticity of the Shroud of Turin, and helped solve the mystery of TWA Flight 800. For every new surgical procedure, from heart transplants to gender reassignment surgery, cadavers have been there alongside surgeons, making history in their quiet way.
-
-
A down to earth, thought provoking discussion
- By Michael on 09-06-2016
-
Crypt
- Life, Death and Disease in the Middle Ages and Beyond
- By: Alice Roberts
- Narrated by: Alice Roberts
- Length: 9 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In her previous two bestsellers, Professor Alice Roberts has powerfully and evocatively revived people of the past through examining their burial rites, bringing a fresh perspective on how they lived. In Crypt, Professor Roberts tells the story of modern Britain from 1066 to the present day - by exploring changing methods of honouring the dead.
-
Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World
- By: Jack Weatherford
- Narrated by: Jonathan Davis, Jack Weatherford
- Length: 14 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Mongol army led by Genghis Khan subjugated more lands and people in 25 years than the Romans did in 400. In nearly every country the Mongols conquered, they brought an unprecedented rise in cultural communication, expanded trade, and a blossoming of civilization.
-
-
Surprisingly good
- By Amazon Customer on 25-09-2017
-
Ravenous
- How to Get Ourselves and Our Planet into Shape
- By: Henry Dimbleby, Jemima Lewis
- Narrated by: Henry Dimbleby
- Length: 7 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
You may not be aware of this – not consciously, at least – but you do not control what you eat. Every mouthful you take is informed by the subtle tweaking and nudging of a vast, complex, global system – one so intimately woven into everyday life that you hardly even know it's there. The food system is no longer simply a means of sustenance. It is one of the most successful, most innovative and most destructive industries on earth. It sustains us, but it is also killing us.
Publisher's Summary
Brought to you by Penguin.
Humans did not make history—we played host.
This humbling and revelatory book shows how infectious disease has shaped humanity at every stage, from the first success of Homo sapiens over the equally intelligent Neanderthals to the fall of Rome and the rise of Islam. How did an Indonesian volcano help cause the Black Death, setting Europe on the road to capitalism? How could 168 men extract the largest ransom in history from an opposing army of eighty thousand? And why did the Industrial Revolution lead to the birth of the modern welfare state?
The latest science reveals that infectious diseases are not just something that happens to us, but a fundamental part of who we are. Indeed, the only reason humans don't lay eggs is that a virus long ago inserted itself into our DNA, and there are as many bacteria in your body as there are human cells. We have been thinking about the survival of the fittest all wrong: evolution is not simply about human strength and intelligence, but about how we live and thrive in a world dominated by germs.
By exploring the startling intimacy of our relationship with infectious diseases, Dr Jonathan Kennedy shows how they have been responsible for some of the seismic revolutions of the past 50,000 years. A major reassessment of world history, Pathogenesis also reveals how the crisis of a pandemic can offer vital opportunities for change.
Critic Reviews
"This book challenges some of the greatest cliches about colonialism and leaves you wondering why you ever gave them the time of day. A revelation, and also that rarest thing, a science title that is entirely comprehensible and often a pleasure to read." (Sathnam Sanghera, bestselling author of Empireland)
"Thrilling and eye-opening. From neolithic diseases to Covid-19, Jonathan Kennedy explores the enormous role played by some of the tiniest life on Earth: the power of plagues in shaping world history." (Professor Lewis Dartnell, bestselling author of Origins and Being Human)
"From the fall of Rome to the Spanish conquest of the Americas to the industrial revolution, germs have played as much a role in history as guns, generals and 'great men'... Jonathan Kennedy restores the microbes of infectious disease to their rightful place in the story of human evolution and the rise and fall of civilisations. Science and history at its best." (Dr Mark Honigsbaum, author of The Pandemic Century)
What listeners say about Pathogenesis
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Anonymous User
- 09-05-2023
Outstanding History of the World
Such a refreshing compassionate and well presented chronological account of the development our world without glorifying humans.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Anonymous User
- 09-07-2023
Broad-roaming history of events and ideas
Really interesting history of the Old World and New. The prehistoric stories were all new to me; some familar ground in the history of the early thru late Middle Ages, but I enjoyed the links with developments in social and political thought.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Cathy thompson
- 22-11-2023
Great narrator and author
Scary book, but a great overview of human history and the part microbes have played.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Anonymous User
- 04-04-2024
single celled lifeforms still rule the world 3.5Billion years on
This book emphasises the control tiny organisms have over larger and more complex, even intelligent lifeforms on this planet. A highly informative book illustrating just how much influence germs have had over the course of human history. Highly recommended
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!