Product Description

A compelling history of the Black Death that scoured Europe in the mid 14th-century killing twenty-five million people. It was one of the worst human disasters in history. 'The bodies were sparsely covered that the dogs dragged them forth and devoured them!And believing it to be the end of the world, no one wept for the dead, for all expected to die.' Agnolo di Turo, Siena, 1348 In just over a thousand days from 1347 to 1351 the 'Black Death' travelled across medieval Europe killing thirty per cent of its population. It was a catastrophe that touched the lives of every individual on the continent. The deadly Y. Pestis virus entered Europe in October 1347 by Genoese galley at Messina, Sicily. In the spring of 1348 it was devastating the cities of central Italy, by June 1348 it had reached France and Spain, and by August England. At St Mary's, Ashwell, Hertfordshire, an anonymous hand carved the following inscription for 1349: 'Wretched, terrible, destructive year, the remnants of the people alone remain.' According to the Foster scale, a kind of Richter scale of human disaster, the plague of 1347-51 is the second worst catastrophe in recorded history. Only World War II produced more death, physical damage, and emotional suffering. Defence analysts use it as the measure of thermonuclear war -- in geographical extent, abruptness and casualties. In 'The Great Mortality' John Kelly retraces the journey of the Black Death using original source material -- diary fragments, letters and manuscripts. It is the devastating portrait of a continent gripped by an epidemic, but also a very personal story, narrated by the individuals whose lives were touched by it.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #57961 in Books
• Published on: 2006-01-03
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 384 pages

Review
'Kelly is a fair-minded and reliable guide, with a gift for providing racy and vivid background for those who know nothing of the Middle Ages.' Independent on Sunday 'There has never been a better researched, better written or more engaging account of the worst epidemic the world has ever known than this.' Simon Winchester, author of 'The Professor and the Madman and Krakatoa' 'Kelly approaches the story of the greatest tragedy in history like a forensic detective who must first recreate the life of the victims before examining their deaths. While writing with a keen eye for the telling details of the past, Kelly's book might also be a warning about our own future.' Jack Weatherford, author of 'Genghis Khan'

About the Author
John Kelly has been writing about science, medicine and human behaviour for more than 20 years, and has an MA in European history from New York University. He is the author of nine previous books. He lives in New York.

Customer Reviews

Interesting
An easy read, strange as that is for a book about the Black Death, The Great Mortality is a well-researched history-travelogue hybrid, with some interesting asides like the effect of plague on the Jewish population and city relations, as well as outlining the debate on plauge/anthrax viruses. It must be treated as a 'hobby' book, rather than a serious text for use in degree work etc, as it does cater for morons like me who read it for fun. The fiction does creep in, with the slightly annoying 'sunsets on a field of gold' twaddle, but it saves it from being a morbid account and makes it intimate. Hats off to John Kelly for giving all the facts, plus a few superfluous ones, without sounding like an especially boring History teacher.

Very good research, slightly let down by delivery
On the plus side, this was an interesting and obviously well researched history of the Black Death, being particularly strong on the scientific background and origins of the plague bacillus. On the minus side, the author's journalistic use of overly colourful and sometimes anachronistic phrases and putting imaginary words and actions into the mouths and hands of persons grated rather on me. Also in places I felt he digressed a little too far from the main narrative into interesting but not directly relevant (at least not in so much detail) historical developments. Overall though, well worth reading.

Well researched account of a horrifying time
John Kelly has produced a comprehensive, well-researched account of the Black Death from its origins on the plains of Samarkand to its domination of Europe and eventual recession that is by-turns harrowing, humane and always fascinating.

He's clearly done a lot of work looking at both source material and modern articles (the end notes run to over 30 pages) that attempt to explain why the Black Death was so virulent and so devastating, but isn't afraid to insert his own opinion. Particularly interesting was his description of the different types of plague and how it is communicated (which, as a non-scientist, I found lucid and easy to follow). His final chapter draws out some of the current arguments being made that the Black Death was actually a strain of Ebola and although I would have liked this to be a little more in-depth, he deals with the arguments for and against in a succinct manner.

In terms of social history, there's a great deal to be taken from this book, including aspects of diet and housing but also some of the politics and every-day attitudes. One chapter focuses on anti-Semitism and how it increased as a result of the Black Death and although it makes for very uncomfortable reading, it helps to explain the roots of anti-Semitism that are still felt to this day.

My only complaint is that sometimes Kelly lets his imagination get the better of him. There are a couple of instances where he suggests how a particular chronicler may have felt or behaved that seem to bear no relation to the text and which detract from the chronicler's own words. Apart from this however, I really enjoyed the book and would have no hesitation recommending it to people interested in the period or subject matter.