I recently read The Plague by Camus about an epidemic happening in colonial Oran, Algeria. I sometimes smiled at how underwhelming it was in comparison to what the COVID pandemic revealed about society and human nature in times of total catastrophe.
Had to read it in school. Iirc it was a direct response and commentary/allegory of ww2.
It's popular to connect The Plague to mid 20th century fascism. The message is actually much deeper and more broad than that specific point in time of Western history.
I read it recently too and I was actually impressed by how well he described the atmosphere of the quarantine. It made me wonder if he actually lived through one.