The Black Death

Features

• Covers all aspects of the disease: epidemiology, geographic spread, demographic impact, medical responses, environmental impact, religious responses, the flagellant movement, Jewish pogroms, social and economic impact, and artistic responses
• Delves deep into the latest in research developments, including paleomicrobiological evidence of Yersinia pestis DNA in Black Death victims; evidence of higher mortality rates during the first outbreak of the Black Death; the effect of climate change on rat hosts and flea vectors; and genetic mapping of the geographical origins of the plague
• Lays out the parameters of current debates in Black Death studies, including: whether doctors came up with any new theories about the causes of plague; whether the flagellants were disciplined performers or hysterical doomsayers; whether the pogroms against the Jews reflected rational fears of artificial poisoning or were strictly the product of anti-semitism; whether the religious response to the plague foreshadowed the Reformation; and whether the artistic response was about more than just a morbid fascination with death
• Offers an entire chapter (Chapter 4) devoted to environmental impacts of the Black Death, a topic not usually covered in other books
• Covers the entire period of the medieval Black Death, from 1347 to c.1500, not just the first outbreak in 1347-1353
• Includes a chapter on global perspectives on the Black Death, especially in terms of its origins in Central Asia
• Provides cultural balance, with explanation of Islamic religious, medical, and social responses, in addition to the Christian perspective
• Complemented by 18 photos, 5 graphs, 9 tables, and 4 maps

About the Author(s)

John Aberth received his Ph.D. in Medieval History from the University of Cambridge, UK. He has published ten books--mostly focusing on the history of the Black Death and disease--and has taught for twenty years at various colleges and universities in Vermont, Nebraska, and New York.

Reviews

"Aberth's book will be a useful guide for a new generation of students, born after AIDS cocktails made that disease more or less controllable in the mid-1990s and who are now grappling for the first time with what pandemics do to societies Whether upcoming generations adopt the "silver linings" optimism about pandemics Aberth espouses here remains to be seen. But Oxford University Press has served them well in providing this affordable and comprehensive volume." -- Monica H. Green, Speculum

"Aberth's clearly written book isâhighly recommended." -- J.P. Byrne, emeritus, Belmont University, CHOICE

"John Aberth is absolutely right that it is time for a new volume on this topic, and he seems to cover all the bases here. The prose is simultaneously expert and crystal-clear--a pleasure to read. Aberth moves easily from the historical to the scientific and back and forth between complex historiographical models in a way that even new undergraduates should be able to grasp."--Jennifer Kolpacoff Deane, University of Minnesota, Morris

"I love Alberth's approach to history; he covers social aspects, cultural aspects, and critical interpretation. Aberth is very good at walking students through his thinking; they will really learn about historical argument construction and the use of source evidence by reading his book."--Michael Sizer, Maryland Institute College of Art