The Pandemic and History
Four historians consider whether the experience of the pandemic has changed their views on the nature of historical crises.
![Coloured woodcut image of the four horseman of the apocalypse as printed in Anton Koberger's German bible, f.577r, 1485 © The University of Edinburgh. Coloured woodcut image of the four horseman of the apocalypse as printed in Anton Koberger's German bible, f.577r, 1485 © The University of Edinburgh.](/sites/default/files/2021-05/Pandemics-History.jpg)
‘The last year has underlined the interconnected nature of events’
Alex von Tunzelmann, Author of Blood and Sand: Suez, Hungary and the Crisis that Shook the World (Simon & Schuster, 2016)
Strictly, the answer to this question is no: the facts of this pandemic and the response have not changed the facts or natures of previous crises. More broadly, though, watching a global crisis unfold in real time has made me think about how I approach historical crises in three ways: focus, connections and diversity of experience.