Throughout history, disease has plagued human civilisations, claiming more lives than natural disasters and warfare combined. Now, in 2015, the world's response to the outbreak of Ebola in West Africa, which has caused widespread devastation since it was first reported in March 2014, is at the forefront of health discussions. A Short History of Disease chronicles the historical and geographical evolution of infectious and non-infectious diseases, offering an accessible guide to the ailments and the medical methods used to combat them. Analysing case studies including the Black Death, Spanish Flu, syphilis, cancer, malaria and Ebola, Martin maps the development of trends and the latest research on disease into a concise and enlightening timeline.

Catharism was the most successful heresy of the Middle Ages. Flourishing principally in the Languedoc and Italy, the Cathars taught that the world is evil and must be transcended through a simple life of prayer, work, fasting and non-violence. They believed themselves to be the heirs of the true heritage of Christianity going back to apostolic times, and completely rejected the Catholic Church and all its trappings, regarding it as the Church of Satan; Cathar services and ceremonies, by contrast, were held in fields, barns and in people's homes. Finding support from the nobility in the fractious political situation in southern France, the Cathars also found widespread popularity among peasants and artisans. And again unlike the Church, the Cathars respected women, and women played a major role in the movement. Alarmed at the success of Catharism, the Church founded the Inquisition and launched the Albigensian Crusade to exterminate the heresy. While previous Crusades had been...