Abstract

Grmek's important article on pathocenosis, which appeared in 1969 in the Annales, did not achieve the fame and significance which it seemed to merit. This needs to be explained not only in terms of Grmek's own history, but also in changes in intellectual fashion, including in the Annales themselves. The work was also eclipsed by W.H. McNeill's best-selling Plagues and Peoples. History's 'cultural turn' since the 1980s has also limited the article's perceived utility. Nevertheless, the value of the concept is underlined by the articles in this collection