The Great Shadow: A History of How Sickness Shapes What We Do, Think, Believe, and Buy -- Susan Wise Bauer, Hardcover

From alchemy to wellness culture, from antisemitism to disposable plastic, a gripping account of how getting sick has shaped humanity.

Anti-science, anti-vaccine, anti-reason beliefs seem to be triumphing over common sense today. How did we get here? The Great Shadow brings a huge missing piece to this puzzle--the experience of actually being ill. What did it feel like to be a woman or man struggling with illness in ancient times, in the Middle Ages, in the seventeenth century, or in 1920? And how did that shape our thoughts and convictions?

The Great Shadow uses extensive historical research and first-person accounts to tell a vivid story about sickness and our responses to it, from very ancient times until the last decade. In the process of writing, historian Susan Wise Bauer reveals just how many of our current fads and causes are rooted in the moment-by-moment experience of sickness--from the search for a balanced lifestyle to plug-in air fresheners and bare hardwood floors. We can't simply shout facts at people who refuse vaccinations, believe that immigrants carry diseases, or insist that God will look out for them during a pandemic. We have to enter with imagination, historical perspective, and empathy into their world. The Great Shadow does just that with page-turning flair.

Author: Susan Wise Bauer
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Published: 01/27/2026
Pages: 352
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 1.00lbs
Size: 8.25h x 5.38w x 1.00d
ISBN: 9781250272911

Review Citation(s):
Kirkus Reviews 11/01/2025

About the Author
Susan Wise Bauer is a historian and educator. Her sweeping works of narrative history include, among many others, The History of the Ancient World, The Story of Western Science, and the Story of the World series for young readers. She is the co-author of The Well-Trained Mind, author of The Well-Educated Mind, and owner of the Well-Trained Mind Press. She taught at the College of William and Mary for eighteen years and now writes on the family farm, Peace Hill, in Charles City, Virginia.