Holly E. (Holl286) reviewed The Great Mortality : An Intimate History of the Black Death, The Most Devastating Plague of All Time (P.S.) on + 25 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
At some points he get a little carried away discussing the geography of
Europe, and you find yourself continuously fliping back to the map in the front of the book. However, he also makes the "Black Death" more real by putting names and details of individuals' livlihoods in. You become transported back to the fourteenth century.
Europe, and you find yourself continuously fliping back to the map in the front of the book. However, he also makes the "Black Death" more real by putting names and details of individuals' livlihoods in. You become transported back to the fourteenth century.
Laura J. (LauraJ) -
A fascinating history of the devastating 14th century plague outbreak. The author brings the period to life with details of daily life and personal accounts. At times, the descriptions can be quite graphic, so it is not recommended as mealtime reading.
Nancy A. (Chocoholic) reviewed The Great Mortality : An Intimate History of the Black Death, The Most Devastating Plague of All Time (P.S.) on + 291 more book reviews
This book was on my wishlist for some time because I was genuinely interested in the Black Plague period of history. This book made me seriously question my interests, not because of gruesome details but because the book is so dry. The author spends almost 100 pages describing the geography of Europe and Asia in excruciatingly painful detail, but I persevered. He personified the plague virus as some sort of nomad wandering around Europe, infecting whenever and wherever it liked. Occasionally he sprinkled little vignettes about a person's experience with the plague here and there, but nearly smothers the readers' interest by layering heavy doses of statistics and percentages and other boring facts on top. In one memorable chapter he points out the ill treatment of the Jews when angry Europeans blamed them for the plague, but not before he systematically points out every single crime against the Jewish people since 66 AD, and goes on for 20 pages before finally getting back to his point. This book really reads like a dry textbook and has no discernible plot to it (yes, even nonfiction books can have a plot). Finally the author throws in big, medical words that will send you running for a dictionary. I hope there are better books about the plague out there, because this isn't one of them.
