The pandemic that continues to cause insurmountable damage to the world at large, both mentally and physically, has inadvertently given rise to a new sub-genre of literature that casts a probing, insightful lens on human nature. In this realm of discussion, we’ve just learnt that graphic novelist Sarnath Banerjee and cultural historian Julia Hauser have come together to write The Moral Contagion, which, based on what we know so far, promises to be an eye-opening and uniquely global account of how plagues and pandemics have shaped human history — and the very notion of human intimacy — across time and space.

What we know so far is that the book will be informative and mischievously entertaining, premised on Hauser’s rigorous scholarship and enhanced by Banerjee’s extraordinary illustrations. The result is a gripping book that playfully melds meticulous research with imaginative storytelling to create a graphic history of the plague and how it has constantly shaped the human need to connect in an upside down world. Instead of the usual Euro-centric understanding, it shifts focus to experiences in other parts of the world.