Plagues are nothing new. Back in 1518, a woman in rural France started dancing and didn't stop—in fact she was carried away six days later. By a few weeks later, more than 400 people in the village had been stricken with the dancing plague. Jennifer Wright details some of the strangest, most gruesome plagues ever, as well as the heroic figures who fought them. Wright's trademark fastidiousness and humor are on display here, in this riveting, at times morbid, overview.