My upcoming book, A History of the World in Six Plagues, which will be published on March 11, 2025, by Simon & Schuster (North America), Dialogue Books (UK), and Ullstein Verlag (Germany) to mark the fifth anniversary of the COVID-19 lockdown. A History of the World in Six Plagues provides a unique perspective on the deep connection between contagion and confinement through six diseases and seven case studies. It explores the histories of cholera, HIV/AIDS, the Spanish Flu, sleeping sickness, Ebola, and COVID-19 while also recounting my early personal experience with medical confinement and its influence on my worldview. The book examines humanity’s approach to pandemic diseases, taking readers on a journey across different places and times, from Port-au-Prince to Tanzania and plantation-era America to today’s COVID-19-affected world. It reveals shocking truths about the patterns of discrimination in response to disease, highlighting the current global health crisis.
Since its conception in 2020, this book’s emergence has been a labor of love and part of my curiosity and growth as a writer who wants to unravel the beauty and wonders of how science impacts society. Given this, I would appreciate your help spreading the word, generating early sales figures, and letting people know about the book. Here are several things you can do.
You can preorder my book here. You can also ask at your local bookstore or your favorite online retailer to pre-order it. This is especially helpful for first-time authors.
For those who write for magazines or newspapers, please pitch to your editor or colleague to write a book review. If you want a review copy, please contact Shida Carr at Simon & Schuster if you’re based in North America or Hannah Chukwu at Dialogue Books if you’re in Europe.
Please attend my book talk if you live in Miami or New York City. I will hold events in Miami on 5 March at Books and Books and in New York City on 20 March at 6:30 PM at the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Library (The New York Public Library). Both events will occur during my month-long visit to the United States (late February to late March).
I would love to make a guest appearance or be interviewed if you host a podcast or radio show. I can do recordings throughout 2025, before or after the March 2025 publication date.
I would love to participate in (virtual) conversations with public libraries, labor unions (medical workers), art spaces, museums, and universities. However, I can also hold in-person events in European cities connected to Berlin by train. Let me know if you have ideas on this front.
In the meantime, I would be so grateful if you could recommend the book to people in your life (relatives, coworkers, pen-pals, editors, etc.). You can promote the book on social media, in newsletters, nominate me for a prize, etc.