Pandemics: A Very Short Introduction VERY SHORT INTRODUCTIONS are for anyone wanting a stimulating and accessible way into a new subject. They are written by experts, and have been translated into more than 40 different languages. The series began in 1995, and now covers a wide variety of topics in every discipline. The VSI library now contains over 450 volumes—a Very Short Introduction to everything from Indian philosophy to psychology and American history and relativity—and continues to grow in every subject area. Very Short Introductions available now: ACCOUNTING Christopher Nobes ANAESTHESIA Aidan O’Donnell ADOLESCENCE Peter K. Smith ANARCHISM Colin Ward ADVERTISING Winston Fletcher ANCIENT ASSYRIA Karen Radner AFRICAN AMERICAN RELIGION ANCIENT EGYPT Ian Shaw Eddie S. Glaude Jr ANCIENT EGYPTIAN ART AND AFRICAN HISTORY John Parker and ARCHITECTURE Christina Riggs Richard Rathbone ANCIENT GREECE Paul Cartledge AFRICAN RELIGIONS Jacob K. Olupona THE ANCIENT NEAR EAST AGNOSTICISM Robin Le Poidevin Amanda H. Podany AGRICULTURE Paul Brassley and ANCIENT PHILOSOPHY Julia Annas Richard Soffe ANCIENT WARFARE ALEXANDER THE GREAT Harry Sidebottom Hugh Bowden ANGELS David Albert Jones ALGEBRA Peter M. Higgins ANGLICANISM Mark Chapman AMERICAN HISTORY Paul S. Boyer THE ANGLO-SAXON AGE AMERICAN IMMIGRATION John Blair David A. Gerber THE ANIMAL KINGDOM AMERICAN LEGAL HISTORY Peter Holland G. Edward White ANIMAL RIGHTS David DeGrazia AMERICAN POLITICAL HISTORY THE ANTARCTIC Klaus Dodds Donald Critchlow ANTISEMITISM Steven Beller AMERICAN POLITICAL PARTIES ANXIETY Daniel Freeman and AND ELECTIONS L. Sandy Maisel Jason Freeman AMERICAN POLITICS THE APOCRYPHAL GOSPELS Richard M. Valelly Paul Foster THE AMERICAN PRESIDENCY ARCHAEOLOGY Paul Bahn Charles O. Jones ARCHITECTURE Andrew Ballantyne THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION ARISTOCRACY William Doyle Robert J. Allison ARISTOTLE Jonathan Barnes AMERICAN SLAVERY ART HISTORY Dana Arnold Heather Andrea Williams ART THEORY Cynthia Freeland THE AMERICAN WEST Stephen Aron ASTROBIOLOGY David C. Catling AMERICAN WOMEN’S HISTORY ASTROPHYSICS James Binney Susan Ware ATHEISM Julian Baggini AUGUSTINE Henry Chadwick CHRISTIANITY Linda Woodhead AUSTRALIA Kenneth Morgan CITIZENSHIP Richard Bellamy AUTISM Uta Frith CIVIL ENGINEERING David Muir Wood THE AVANT GARDE David Cottington CLASSICAL LITERATURE THE AZTECS Davíd Carrasco William Allan BABYLONIA Trevor Bryce CLASSICAL MYTHOLOGY BACTERIA Sebastian G. B. Amyes Helen Morales BARTHES Jonathan Culler CLASSICS Mary Beard and THE BEATS David Sterritt John Henderson BEAUTY Roger Scruton CLAUSEWITZ Michael Howard BESTSELLERS John Sutherland CLIMATE Mark Maslin THE BIBLE John Riches CLIMATE CHANGE Mark Maslin BIBLICAL ARCHAEOLOGY COGNITIVE NEUROSCIENCE Eric H. Cline Richard Passingham BIOGRAPHY Hermione Lee THE COLD WAR Robert McMahon BLACK HOLES Katherine Blundell COLONIAL AMERICA Alan Taylor BLOOD Chris Cooper COLONIAL LATIN AMERICAN THE BLUES Elijah Wald LITERATURE Rolena Adorno THE BODY Chris Shilling COMBINATORICS Robin Wilson THE BOOK OF MORMON COMEDY Matthew Bevis Terryl Givens COMMUNISM Leslie Holmes BORDERS Alexander C. Diener and COMPLEXITY John H. Holland Joshua Hagen THE COMPUTER Darrel Ince THE BRAIN Michael O’Shea COMPUTER SCIENCE THE BRICS Andrew F. Cooper Subrata Dasgupta THE BRITISH CONSTITUTION CONFUCIANISM Daniel K. Gardner Martin Loughlin THE CONQUISTADORS THE BRITISH EMPIRE Ashley Jackson Matthew Restall and BRITISH POLITICS Anthony Wright Felipe Fernández-Armesto BUDDHA Michael Carrithers CONSCIENCE Paul Strohm BUDDHISM Damien Keown CONSCIOUSNESS Susan Blackmore BUDDHIST ETHICS Damien Keown CONTEMPORARY ART BYZANTIUM Peter Sarris Julian Stallabrass CANCER Nicholas James CONTEMPORARY FICTION CAPITALISM James Fulcher Robert Eaglestone CATHOLICISM Gerald O’Collins CONTINENTAL PHILOSOPHY CAUSATION Stephen Mumford and Simon Critchley Rani Lill Anjum COPERNICUS Owen Gingerich THE CELL Terence Allen and CORAL REEFS Charles Sheppard Graham Cowling CORPORATE SOCIAL THE CELTS Barry Cunliffe RESPONSIBILITY Jeremy Moon CHAOS Leonard Smith CORRUPTION Leslie Holmes CHEMISTRY Peter Atkins COSMOLOGY Peter Coles CHILD PSYCHOLOGY Usha Goswami CRIME FICTION Richard Bradford CHILDREN’S LITERATURE CRIMINAL JUSTICE Julian V. Roberts Kimberley Reynolds CRITICAL THEORY Stephen Eric Bronner CHINESE LITERATURE Sabina Knight THE CRUSADES Christopher Tyerman CHOICE THEORY Michael Allingham CRYPTOGRAPHY Fred Piper and CHRISTIAN ART Beth Williamson Sean Murphy CHRISTIAN ETHICS D. Stephen Long CRYSTALLOGRAPHY A. M. Glazer THE CULTURAL REVOLUTION EPIDEMIOLOGY Rodolfo Saracci Richard Curt Kraus ETHICS Simon Blackburn DADA AND SURREALISM ETHNOMUSICOLOGY Timothy Rice David Hopkins THE ETRUSCANS Christopher Smith DANTE Peter Hainsworth and THE EUROPEAN UNION John Pinder David Robey and Simon Usherwood DARWIN Jonathan Howard EVOLUTION Brian and THE DEAD SEA SCROLLS Deborah Charlesworth Timothy Lim EXISTENTIALISM Thomas Flynn DECOLONIZATION Dane Kennedy EXPLORATION Stewart A. Weaver DEMOCRACY Bernard Crick THE EYE Michael Land DERRIDA Simon Glendinning FAMILY LAW Jonathan Herring DESCARTES Tom Sorell FASCISM Kevin Passmore DESERTS Nick Middleton FASHION Rebecca Arnold DESIGN John Heskett FEMINISM Margaret Walters DEVELOPMENTAL BIOLOGY FILM Michael Wood Lewis Wolpert FILM MUSIC Kathryn Kalinak THE DEVIL Darren Oldridge THE FIRST WORLD WAR DIASPORA Kevin Kenny Michael Howard DICTIONARIES Lynda Mugglestone FOLK MUSIC Mark Slobin DINOSAURS David Norman FOOD John Krebs DIPLOMACY Joseph M. Siracusa FORENSIC PSYCHOLOGY DOCUMENTARY FILM David Canter Patricia Aufderheide FORENSIC SCIENCE Jim Fraser DREAMING J. Allan Hobson FORESTS Jaboury Ghazoul DRUGS Les Iversen FOSSILS Keith Thomson DRUIDS Barry Cunliffe FOUCAULT Gary Gutting EARLY MUSIC Thomas Forrest Kelly THE FOUNDING FATHERS THE EARTH Martin Redfern R. B. Bernstein EARTH SYSTEM SCIENCE Tim Lenton FRACTALS Kenneth Falconer ECONOMICS Partha Dasgupta FREE SPEECH Nigel Warburton EDUCATION Gary Thomas FREE WILL Thomas Pink EGYPTIAN MYTH Geraldine Pinch FRENCH LITERATURE EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY BRITAIN John D. Lyons Paul Langford THE FRENCH REVOLUTION THE ELEMENTS Philip Ball William Doyle EMOTION Dylan Evans FREUD Anthony Storr EMPIRE Stephen Howe FUNDAMENTALISM Malise Ruthven ENGELS Terrell Carver FUNGI Nicholas P. Money ENGINEERING David Blockley GALAXIES John Gribbin ENGLISH LITERATURE Jonathan Bate GALILEO Stillman Drake THE ENLIGHTENMENT GAME THEORY Ken Binmore John Robertson GANDHI Bhikhu Parekh ENTREPRENEURSHIP Paul Westhead GENES Jonathan Slack and Mike Wright GENIUS Andrew Robinson ENVIRONMENTAL ECONOMICS GEOGRAPHY John Matthews and Stephen Smith David Herbert ENVIRONMENTAL POLITICS GEOPOLITICS Klaus Dodds Andrew Dobson GERMAN LITERATURE EPICUREANISM Catherine Wilson Nicholas Boyle GERMAN PHILOSOPHY Andrew Bowie INFECTIOUS DISEASE Marta L. Wayne GLOBAL CATASTROPHES Bill McGuire and Benjamin M. Bolker GLOBAL ECONOMIC HISTORY INFORMATION Luciano Floridi Robert C. Allen INNOVATION Mark Dodgson and GLOBALIZATION Manfred Steger David Gann GOD John Bowker INTELLIGENCE Ian J. Deary GOETHE Ritchie Robertson INTERNATIONAL LAW Vaughan Lowe THE GOTHIC Nick Groom INTERNATIONAL MIGRATION GOVERNANCE Mark Bevir Khalid Koser THE GREAT DEPRESSION AND THE INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS NEW DEAL Eric Rauchway Paul Wilkinson HABERMAS James Gordon Finlayson INTERNATIONAL SECURITY HAPPINESS Daniel M. Haybron Christopher S. Browning THE HARLEM RENAISSANCE IRAN Ali M. Ansari Cheryl A. Wall ISLAM Malise Ruthven THE HEBREW BIBLE AS LITERATURE ISLAMIC HISTORY Adam Silverstein Tod Linafelt ISOTOPES Rob Ellam HEGEL Peter Singer ITALIAN LITERATURE HEIDEGGER Michael Inwood Peter Hainsworth and David Robey HERMENEUTICS Jens Zimmermann JESUS Richard Bauckham HERODOTUS Jennifer T. Roberts JOURNALISM Ian Hargreaves HIEROGLYPHS Penelope Wilson JUDAISM Norman Solomon HINDUISM Kim Knott JUNG Anthony Stevens HISTORY John H. Arnold KABBALAH Joseph Dan THE HISTORY OF ASTRONOMY KAFKA Ritchie Robertson Michael Hoskin KANT Roger Scruton THE HISTORY OF CHEMISTRY KEYNES Robert Skidelsky William H. Brock KIERKEGAARD Patrick Gardiner THE HISTORY OF LIFE Michael Benton KNOWLEDGE Jennifer Nagel THE HISTORY OF MATHEMATICS THE KORAN Michael Cook Jacqueline Stedall LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE THE HISTORY OF MEDICINE Ian H. Thompson William Bynum LANDSCAPES AND THE HISTORY OF TIME GEOMORPHOLOGY Leofranc Holford-Strevens Andrew Goudie and Heather Viles HIV/AIDS Alan Whiteside LANGUAGES Stephen R. Anderson HOBBES Richard Tuck LATE ANTIQUITY Gillian Clark HOLLYWOOD Peter Decherney LAW Raymond Wacks HORMONES Martin Luck THE LAWS OF THERMODYNAMICS HUMAN ANATOMY Peter Atkins Leslie Klenerman LEADERSHIP Keith Grint HUMAN EVOLUTION Bernard Wood LEARNING Mark Haselgrove HUMAN RIGHTS Andrew Clapham LEIBNIZ Maria Rosa Antognazza HUMANISM Stephen Law LIBERALISM Michael Freeden HUME A. J. Ayer LIGHT Ian Walmsley HUMOUR Noël Carroll LINCOLN Allen C. Guelzo THE ICE AGE Jamie Woodward LINGUISTICS Peter Matthews IDEOLOGY Michael Freeden LITERARY THEORY Jonathan Culler INDIAN CINEMA Ashish Rajadhyaksha LOCKE John Dunn INDIAN PHILOSOPHY Sue Hamilton LOGIC Graham Priest LOVE Ronald de Sousa MOLECULAR BIOLOGY Aysha Divan MACHIAVELLI Quentin Skinner and Janice A. Royds MADNESS Andrew Scull MOLECULES Philip Ball MAGIC Owen Davies THE MONGOLS Morris Rossabi MAGNA CARTA Nicholas Vincent MOONS David A. Rothery MAGNETISM Stephen Blundell MORMONISM Richard Lyman Bushman MALTHUS Donald Winch MOUNTAINS Martin F. Price MANAGEMENT John Hendry MUHAMMAD Jonathan A. C. Brown MAO Delia Davin MULTICULTURALISM Ali Rattansi MARINE BIOLOGY