Plagues upon the earth: disease and the course of human history

Introduction: microorganisms and macrohistory

Fire. Mammals in a microbe's world ; Prometheus among the pirates ; Where the bloodsuckers aren't

Farms. Dung and death ; The sneezing ape ; The ends of the old world

Frontiers. Conquests and contagions ; The unification of the tropics ; Of lice and men

Fossils. The wealth and health of nations ; Disease and global divergence ; The disinfected planet

Acknowledgments

Appendix: checklist of major identified species of human pathogens.