The Great Mortality: An Intimate History of the Black Death, the Most Devastating Plague of All Time

The Great Plague is one of the most compelling events in human history—even more so now, when the notion of plague has never loomed larger as a contemporary public concern.

The plague that devastated Asia and Europe in the 14th century has been of never-ending interest to both scholarly and general readers. Many books on the medieval plague rely on statistics to tell the story: how many people died; how farm output and trade declined. But statistics can’t convey what it was like to sit in Siena or Avignon and hear that a thousand people a day are dying two towns away. Or to have to chose between your own life and your duty to a mortally ill child or spouse. Or to live in a society where the bonds of blood and sentiment and law have lost all meaning, where anyone can murder or rape or plunder anyone else without fear of consequence.

In this compelling work of narrative history, The Great Mortality, author John Kelly lends an air of immediacy and intimacy to his telling of the journey of the plague as it traveled from the steppes of Russia, across Europe, and into England, killing 75 million people—one third of the known population—before it vanished.

This intimate narrative history of the Black Death explores:

• An Intimate History: Go beyond cold statistics to discover what it was like for individuals to hear that a thousand people a day were dying two towns away, forcing them to choose between their own lives and their duty to a mortally ill child or spouse.
• The Spread of a Pandemic: Follow the relentless journey of the bubonic plague as it traveled from the steppes of Russia, across the devastated landscapes of 14th-century Europe, and into England.
• Societal Collapse: Witness a world where the bonds of blood, sentiment, and law lost all meaning, and anyone could act without fear of consequence.
• A Warning From the Past: Understand the full story of the most compelling event in human history, which killed 75 million people and holds important lessons for our own time.