San Antonio College Library

Plagues in World History provides a comparative world history of catastrophic infectious diseases, including plague, smallpox, tuberculosis, cholera, influenza, and AIDS. Geographically, these diseases have spread across the entire globe; temporally, they stretch from the sixth century to the present. John Aberth considers not only the varied impact that disease has had upon human history but also the many ways in which people have been able to influence...

"Throughout history, mankind's working theories regarding the cause of infectious disease have shifted drastically, as cultures developed their philosophic, religious, and scientific beliefs. Plagues that were originally attributed to the wrath of the gods were later described as having nothing to do with them, though the cause continued to be a mystery. As centuries passed, medical and religious theorists proposed reasons such as poor air quality...

An exposé of the psychiatric profession's bible from a leading psychotherapist, "The Book of Woe "reveals the deeply flawed process by which mental disorders are invented and uninvented -- and why increasing numbers of therapy patients are being declared mentally ill.

Few modern poets have generated as much controversy as Sylvia Plath. In the aftermath of her suicide in 1963 at the age of thirty, Plath's popularity and stature have steadily increased due to her powerful, self-revelatory imagery and her unflinching stare into the abyss of the human soul. "Sylvia Plath: Method and Madness" masterfully explores the paradoxes of this fascinating woman: the overachieving daughter desperate for approval, the tormented...

How do you explain flaw in a world engineered by God? Avise extends this age-old question to the most basic aspect of humanity's physical evidence-- our genes-- and provides the evolutionary answers.

In Parasites, Pathogens, and Progress, Robert McGuire and Philip Coelho integrate biological and economic perspectives into an explanation of the historical development of humanity and the economy, paying particular attention to the American experience, its history and development. In their path-breaking examination of the impact of population growth and parasitic diseases, they contend that interpretations of history that minimize or ignore the physical...

"The sixteen critical essays in this collection examine the ways in which those suffering from mental and physical ailments were refigured as Other during the Gothic era, and how they were imagined to be monstrous. Together, the essays highlight the Gothic inclination to represent all ailments as visibly monstrous, such as mental illness, which were invisible"--Provided by publisher.

During the 17th century, England was beset by three epidemics of the bubonic plague, each outbreak claiming between a quarter and a third of the population of London and other urban centres. This book brings to life the many and complex ways Londoners made sense of such unspeakable devastation.