Who was the author of the book, Plagues and Peoples?
- A.W. L. Thomas
- B.Rachel Carson
- C.David Cannadine
- D.William H. McNeill
Correct answer
Explanation
The correct answer is D, William H. McNeill. The American historian William Hardy McNeill wrote Plagues and Peoples, published in 1976.
The book was one of the first to treat infectious disease as a force in world history. McNeill argued that epidemics shaped the rise and fall of empires, for example the smallpox and measles carried by Europeans that devastated the peoples of the Americas, and the Black Death that swept Asia and Europe in the fourteenth century. He also wrote The Rise of the West (1963), which won the US National Book Award, and The Pursuit of Power.
A is wrong because William L. Thomas is known as the editor of Man's Role in Changing the Face of the Earth (1956), a classic of environmental geography. B is wrong because Rachel Carson wrote Silent Spring (1962) on the harm done by pesticides such as DDT. C is wrong because David Cannadine is a British historian of modern Britain, author of works such as Ornamentalism.
Exam tip: Plagues and Peoples and The Rise of the West = William H. McNeill; Silent Spring = Rachel Carson.
Practice Questions
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