{"product_id":"9781250272911","title":"The Great Shadow","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eFrom alchemy to wellness culture, from antisemitism to disposable plastic, a gripping account of how getting sick has shaped humanity.\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAnti-science, anti-vaccine, anti-reason beliefs seem to be triumphing over common sense today. How did we get here? \u003ci\u003eThe Great Shadow \u003c\/i\u003ebrings a huge missing piece to this puzzle—the experience of actually being ill. What did it \u003ci\u003efeel \u003c\/i\u003elike 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?\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Great Shadow\u003c\/i\u003e 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. \u003ci\u003eThe Great Shadow \u003c\/i\u003edoes just that with page-turning flair.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Susan Wise Bauer","offers":[{"title":"St. Martin's Press |  Hardback | With dust jacket |  2026-01-27","offer_id":47342923841791,"sku":"9781250272911","price":42.0,"currency_code":"CAD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0329\/9075\/7001\/files\/BNCImageAPI_dc50d80e-ce8d-471a-b3e1-308c08826207.jpg?v=1760111117","url":"https:\/\/riverbookshop.com\/products\/9781250272911","provider":"River Bookshop","version":"1.0","type":"link"}