The Black Death by Thomas Asbridge

Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for The Black Death:

The ultimate equalizer.

Quick synopsis:

A look at the most devastating plague in human history.

Fact for Non-History People:

There are still 1,000 to 2,000 cases of plague reported each year.

Fact for History Nerds:

People who lived through it didn’t call it the Black Death. They called it either the Great Mortality or the Great Plague

My Take on The Black Death:

There are some things in history that defy comprehension. I think the top of that list is the Black Death. It was so complex, devastating, and widespread that I’m not sure any human can comprehend the death of 100 million people from a tiny bacterium. All of these aspects also make the Black Death incredibly difficult to write about. Luckily, we have Thomas Asbridge.

This book was a no-brainer as soon as I saw it. Asbridge’s The Greatest Knight is an all-time classic for me and thus I had every confidence he would deliver with The Black Death. I didn’t know how, but I knew I’d enjoy myself.

Like other books on the plague-above-all, an author cannot write anything close to a narrative history with central characters and a solid through-line. Asbridge breaks his book up into four sections. The first follows how the plague wipes out Europe, as well as parts of Asia and Africa. He chooses a few characters to illustrate the day-to-day terror as death stalks its way to the Atlantic. The second section looks at how society responded to the plague. Verdict: Society held up surprisingly well considering. The third section, which I found to be the most fascinating, was about the way we humans figured out what the Black Death was and how it caused so much destruction. Well, we didn’t figure out everything, but we figured out a few things. Part four looks at the aftermath and how recovery occurred.

I would say to readers that Asbridge is a detail-heavy author. This is not a veiled comment that he is long-winded or boring. On the contrary, everything he provides is relevant and important. He wants the reader to be fully steeped in the story and details so that they can best feel and understand the world they are reading about. As expected, this is not a lighthearted romp through Medieval Europe. This is a serious history of the largest natural disaster in human history. If you are looking for a quick rundown of the plague, then you are going to get way more than expected. For us hardcore history nerds, this is pure gold.

(This book was provided as a review copy by Random House.)

Verdict:

Must read. Do it now. Buy it here!

If You Liked This Try:

• John Kelly, The Great Mortality