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If you’re a follower of my work, please consider pre-ordering my upcoming book The Great Shadow: A History of How Sickness Shapes What We Do, Think, Believe, and Buy.
This book really grew out of my narrative world history series for W. W. Norton (that would be The History of the Ancient World, The History of the Medieval World, The History of the Renaissance World). I was writing about the rise and fall of kingdoms, the quest of rulers for power, the growth of new nations—but I kept getting distracted by people dying.
Not just people dying, because we all will. But the ways in which they died. The historical characters I was writing about died of the most mundane afflictions. People died of splinters, sore throats, pimples, earaches. They died of abscesses in their tonsils, of eye infections, of sore knees and infected toenails. They died of stomach aches and coughs and fevers and (my personal obsession) anal fistulas. (That would be Henry II, father of Richard the Lionhearted.)
And these deaths are recorded with almost no comment. I was fascinated by this. Writing history requires you to try to see the world through the eyes of your subjects, not import modern sensibilities back into their time. When we wake up with a sore throat, or run a splinter into our finger, we sigh and take an antihistamine, or pull the splinter out and put some antibiotic cream on the wound. And then we carry on without thinking much more about it.
But before the late nineteenth century—which is to say, for the vast majority of human history—anything that went wrong with your body could change everything you hoped for, every action you took, your entire future.
I wanted to understand what that felt like. I wanted to know how it affected the way our ancestors thought about each other, the physical world around them, God and demons, dust and fresh air and food. So I started to dig into the experience of being sick, from ancient times all the way up to the present day.
That’s what The Great Shadow is about—not just what it was like to get sick, in 1500 or 500 BCE, in 75 or 300 or 1485 or 1790, but what that changed about what we believe, think, do, and even buy. You’d be amazed how many phenomenon are rooted in illness—everything from accepting that the earth isn’t at the center of the universe, all the way up to segregated bathrooms, Tupperware, and the Ikea aesthetic in room furnishing.
Now for the pre-order request: One of the very best ways to support a writer whose work you appreciate is to put in a pre-publication order for their next book. It doesn’t matter where you order the book from, or how much you pay. (Discounts are fine!) Pre-orders aren’t important because of money. They demonstrate to book buyers, chains, and distributors how much interest there is in the book. That affects orders placed, the prominence of the book in stores and online, and even what the first print run is. Pre-orders can have a cascading effect on a book’s future, both for the better and for the worse.
So if you find this idea interesting, and if you’d like to read some REALLY vivid accounts of what coming down with the Black Death or consumption was actually like, please order now! I’m including some links for your convenience, but The Great Shadow is available anywhere books are sold—and your local indie bookstore will be more than happy to place the order for you.
us.macmillan.com/books/9781250272911/thegreatshadow/
bookshop.org/p/books/the-great-shadow-a-history-of-how-sickness-shapes-what-we-do-think-believe-a...
www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-great-shadow-susan-wise-bauer/1147243804?ean=9781250272911
www.indigo.ca/en-ca/the-great-shadow-a-history-of-how-sickness-shapes-what-we-do-think-believe-an...
www.amazon.com/Great-Shadow-History-Sickness-Believe/dp/1250272912
3 hours ago
Is it on Audible? That is the only way I can read it.
Done. Have you read Everything is Tuberculosis? Fascinating!
Mavey Books, can I preorder from you?
Any site better than others for your preorder numbers?
I definitely pre-ordered, and keep mentioning it to the people I meet and know! I’ve been waiting for this one!
How did you mentally survive the research on this? Are you that type of person who can handle it or did you need to pace the work?
✔️ As a healthcare professional, I am looking forward to reading this!
Used your link, hope it gives you some affiliate credit. Good luck!
Y͟O͟U͟ S͟H͟O͟U͟L͟D͟ T͟R͟Y͟ N͟A͟T͟U͟R͟A͟L͟ 🌿 R͟E͟M͟E͟D͟Y͟, I͟T͟ H͟E͟L͟P͟S͟ M͟E͟ W͟I͟T͟H͟ N͟E͟U͟R͟O͟P͟A͟T͟H͟Y͟, P͟A͟I͟N͟S͟, L͟U͟P͟U͟S͟, F͟A͟T͟I͟G͟U͟E͟, I͟N͟F͟L͟A͟M͟M͟A͟T͟I͟O͟N͟, R͟H͟E͟U͟M͟A͟T͟O͟I͟D͟ A͟R͟T͟H͟R͟I͟T͟I͟S͟ A͟N͟D͟ F͟I͟B͟R͟O͟M͟Y͟A͟L͟G͟I͟A͟. T͟H͟E͟Y͟ A͟R͟E͟ V͟E͟R͟Y͟ E͟F͟F͟E͟C͟T͟I͟V͟E͟ A͟N͟D͟ N͟A͟T͟U͟R͟A͟L͟ Y͟O͟U͟ C͟A͟N͟ S͟E͟N͟D͟ H͟I͟M͟ A͟ M͟E͟S͟S͟A͟G͟E͟ F͟R͟O͟M͟ M͟O͟R͟E͟ I͟N͟F͟O͟R͟M͟A͟T͟I͟O͟N͟ 🌿 herbalist danzu
Congratulations on your new release! 🎉 This festive season, let your story shine brighter than ever. Transform your book into a cinematic experience that captivates readers, sparks excitement, and boosts your sales Susan Wise Bauer
𝗜 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝗹𝗶𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗥𝗵𝗲𝘂𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗼𝗶𝗱 𝗔𝗿𝘁𝗵𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗶𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝘄𝗼 𝘆𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘀 𝗯𝘂𝘁 𝗻𝗼𝘄 𝗜'𝗺 𝗻𝗼𝘄 𝘁𝗼𝘁𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗰𝘂𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗸 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘀𝗶𝗿 👇🏿👇🏿👇🏿 #_Herbalist_Owobu
I'm mostly an X-refugee these days, but this gave me a good election-day chuckle.
1 week ago
Secretary Adams could be well served by raising his concern with the Kentucky Department of Education. I also found this humorous earlier today, in my great Commonwealth of Kentucky.
We only had a school board election but it was vote for 3. It was a different polling place as our school district condensed down to 5 locations versus the normal 10
I see it as a GOOD thing. Mistakes like this are hallmarks of people new to the process. There may be people seeking to vote now that may have never considered doing so before.
I had at least 5 people ask me about elections in Indiana while I was at the library today. One came up to the desk and asked why there wasn’t a line out the door and where other poll places were located.
Oh my. That’s kind of humorous and a little alarming. I was disappointed Missouri only had a school board issue for my district. But such is life. What do you think of Jill Lepore’s book about the history of the Constitution called We The People? (I’ve been reading it and have learned much my days of being both a student and a teacher in Christian schools never taught me.) If you aren’t familiar, do you have other favorite books geared towards adults for civic education and political history?
I don’t know whether to laugh or cry.
Oof! That is a little crazy.
This is simultaneously kind of funny and kind of sad.
Wow. I appreciate that people want to participate in the process but…
My state. 🫣 I promise we didn't all need this message but sadly many did.
No municipal elections?
This is funny until you realize how snarky, belittling, and rude this man is. Please consider not amplifying his voice.
I double-checked yesterday that we didn’t have something. The site said it was down due to the shutdown. My polling place looked like it was getting ready for maybe a school board vote. They were actually collecting food. I think it speaks volumes that people are seeking out polling places. I’m very educated about my local government and still checked that nothing needed my attention. Adams needs an attitude adjustment.
Good freaking grief.
It’s the curse of our connected age where people feel a compulsion to have opinions on things that don’t affect them and which they would never previously have known about. I see friends expressing opinions on the New York Mayor race when they live 3 states away and will never visit NYC. Meanwhile we take energy away from our own communities where we could actually have impact.
Oh wow! I wonder if he is at all embarrassed that public school graduates don’t seem to have gotten a solid civics education.
And on another (I hope, less controversial) subject, here I am saying hello to the donkeys this morning.
Athena and Thelonius, currently on guard duty in the duck pen, are always very glad to see me, in the hopes that breakfast will follow shortly...be sure to put on the sound!
2 weeks ago
Thelenious DONK??!
Oh. So you have and are friendly to donkeys. But where, pray tell, are your elephants? Suspicious and biased!
So cute! They know how to communicate! 😆