Description
In The Great Plague Scare of 1720, Cindy Ermus offers a groundbreaking analysis of how plague anxieties influenced Atlantic World diplomacy and economic relations during the eighteenth century. When reports of plague in the Mediterranean threatened European trade networks, governments mobilized quarantine measures and diplomatic negotiations to contain both disease and economic disruption.
Through careful examination of correspondence, trade records, and official documents, Ermus demonstrates how disease consciousness shaped international policy, port management, and commercial relationships between European powers and their colonies. The book reveals the complex interplay between medical uncertainty, political interests, and mercantile concerns that defined early modern responses to epidemic threats.
This innovative work contributes to Global Health Histories by showing how past societies managed pandemics, negotiated scientific uncertainty, and balanced public welfare against economic interests—themes remarkably relevant to contemporary health crises.
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