0In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, many new techniques for remaining healthy have been introduced, but there is little public discussion about how to live well. "Social distancing" is good medicine for the body, but the health of the spirit depends on wisdom. We are all in strange territory, and under such conditions we can only look to the past for counsel.

In this book, the philosopher Dustin Peone offers reflections on ten literary classics set during plague times. From each work, he draws one central insight that is applicable to our situation today. These insights are lessons in prudence, taught by the sages of the past. This is a book about how to pursue the good life during a pandemic and what it means to flourish in dark times.