pbFinalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize A iNew York Times iEditor's Choicebbrbbbrb A grounded, bracingly intelligent study --iNatureibppbPrizewinning science journalist Sonia Shah presents a startling examination of the pandemics that have ravaged humanity--and shows us how history can prepare us to confront the most serious acute global health emergency of our time.b ppOver the past fifty years, more than three hundred infectious diseases have either emerged or reemerged, appearing in places where they've never before been seen. Years before the sudden arrival of COVID-19, ninety percent of epidemiologists predicted that one of them would cause a deadly pandemic sometime in the next two generations. It might be Ebola, avian flu, a drug-resistant superbug, or something completely new, like the novel virus the world is confronting today. While it was impossible to predict the emergence of SARS-CoV-2--and it remains impossible to predict which pathogen will cause the next global