Coronavirus: A Brief History of the Past, Present, Future of Plagues, Pandemics, Influenza and What We Must Do Next - Cultural History

Pandemic. Influenza. Illness. Disease. Epidemic. People around the world are fighting against a lethal adversary. Only through collective effort will we be able to return to life before coronavirus and COVID-19.  

In Coronavirus: A Brief History of the Past, Present, Future of Plagues, Pandemics, Influenza and What We Must Do Next, critically-acclaimed, bestselling cultural historian and biographer Bob Batchelor offers an eye-opening look at this global challenge. In this eye-opening analysis of the threats before us, Batchelor asks we return to the best aspects of our humanity – compassion, care, and resolve.

Batchelor looks back to the 1918 "Spanish Flu" pandemic for clues about how we might battle COVID-19 in 2020. He looks at potential best-case scenarios and how the outbreak has already transformed culture in the United States and around the globe. Soon, it may seem as if the terror is coming from every direction – financial markets, military-backed quarantines, airline and travel crises, and hospital and healthcare challenges.

Coronavirus: A Brief History of the Past, Present, Future of Plagues, Pandemics, Influenza and What We Must Do Next not only looks at how mankind dealt with earlier epidemics, but examines what we must do now that the disease is with us. For many, as the global reaction to coronavirus escalates, the primary challenge will be to avoid what Batchelor calls "the existential dread" that accompanies crises. Maintaining some form of mental health – while helping family members, young people, friends, and others -- through it all will take a level of contemplation, willpower, optimism, and true unity that America hasn't seen in a long time.

Bob Batchelor is a cultural historian and biographer. He has published books on Kobe Bryant, Stan Lee, Bob Dylan, The Great Gatsby, Mad Men, and John Updike. He recently wrote the critically-acclaimed true crime nonfiction thriller The Bourbon King: The Life and Crimes of George Remus, Prohibition's Evil Genius. Batchelor's books have been translated into a dozen languages and his work has appeared in the New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times. He has appeared as an on-air commentator for The National Geographic Channel, PBS NewsHour, and NPR. His forthcoming book is Rookwood: The Rediscovery and Revival of an American Icon--An Illustrated History.