La peste par erreur

This commentary reflects on the interdisciplinary writing of the history of epidemics in the context of exchanges between history and life sciences. It follows the spring 2026 publication of Black Death [Peste noire] —a major work by medievalist historian Patrick Boucheron that garnered significant critical and public acclaim, alongside some more skeptical or hostile reactions. The article examines the arguments of this work through the lens of the anthropology of knowledge. After an introductory account of a recent plague outbreak (2003) in Oran—the city associated with Albert Camus—the essay broadens its scope to reflect on the narrative framing of epidemics and the blurring of historical eras involved in that process. It then turns to the “molecular turn” in the history of epidemics, using the role of error and misunderstanding in historical writing as a unifying thread.