Customer Reviews

The Black Death: Natural and Human Disaster in Medieval Europe

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In this book, professor Gottfried gives us an in-depth, and yet easy to read analysis of the Black Death of the late 14th century, as well as earlier and later epidemics of various diseases. The first chapter is an examination of the three varieties of plague--bubonic (with a 50%-60% mortality), pneumonic (with a 95%-100% mortality), and septicaemic (mortality unknown as of the writing of this book). The following chapters examine the history of plagues, and the effects these had on Western and Middle-Eastern civilization.

I particularly appreciated the author's use of first-hand accounts in this book, which really served to keep the dialogue from ever becoming too dry and academic. This book is easy to read, with the issues made quite apparent. For example, the author was careful to delineate what epidemics included the pneumonic strain that produced such horrific mortality in many locations. I was also impressed with the author's examination the plague's affects on the Islamic world, not just confining his examination to Europe.

This book is easy to read and understand, and a great reference for anyone (academic or not, such as myself) interested in the Black Death. I recommend this book absolutely.

In 1347, the boat drifted into Messina Harbor in Sicily with all hands aboard, dead. The ship was taken as a prize, brought to harbor, and the rats jumped ship. So starts the narrative of the greatest pestilence in history.

Gottfried writes in the style of a docudrama that adds to the dread of what you know will occur. Three forms of plague destroyed between one third to two fifths of the world's population. The first was the bubonic strain, the second was pneumonic, and the third was septacemic plague. The second was more virulent than the first, and the third was the deadliest of all, killing its host within 24 hours. Such a quick demise however, also meant it was the least likely to spread and ravage a larger population.

The author tells us of communities that rose to the occasion by quaranteening themselves, those who thought the disease was caused by the position of the stars, or the wrath of God bringing judgment day. Many reacted dysfunctionally by penitent, self-flagellation making germ contamination faster, and reaching a larger population as they moved from town to town. Delirious people did the St. Vitus dance to exhaustion. Other towns used perfume and sanitation to combat the evil.

This plague resurfaced every twenty-five years or so thereafter, bringing lasting changes. Whole families and estates had been wiped out or abandoned. Universities sprung up to better understand the nature of disease, and some municipalities introduced sanitation measures on a regular basis. Ships placed discs around their lines to prevent the arrival or departure of ship rats.

The plague is no longer the danger it once was thanks to antibiotics, but its effects linger in the familiar kindergarten song that kids still sing: "Ring around the rosey, pocket full of posey. Ashes, ashes, all fall down."

This may be one of the best books about the black death you will ever read.

This is the second book I read about the Black Death of 1347-51. I was equally impressed with the way Gottfried presented his materials. The author also examines several other diseases that were common in those days, and takes a scientific look at the bacillus that infected fleas and, eventually, the rodents that spread the epidemic. Thoroughly researched (look at his bibliography), this is a terrific book for anyone wanting to know not only about the Black Death but also about its aftermath in Europe (it shaped and changed the future of Europe). I would rank this book with Philip Ziegler's classic "The Black Death."

This is a fascinating book on the plague pandemics of the 14th century and the way they changed the world. After a very interesting description of some essential medical facts about the plague, such as where it came from, how it is transmitted and the effects the different strains have on the human body, Mr Gottfried describes how European society was conformed just prior to the outbreak. Then he proceeds to give a very detailed account of the advance of the epidemic throughout the Mediterranean Basin and the European Continent and the effects it had in different geographical areas. He also deals with the reactions of the clergy (both Muslim and Christian), the secular authorities and the people in general and proposes answers to some very interesting questions (why only 15% of the population of Nuremberg died while in Florence the mortality rate may have been as high as 75%?). After the immediate effects of the epidemic, where extensive quotes from contemporary sources are included, we get an analysis of the long term consequences and the the way the Black Death altered European society and culture for ever. This book is scholarly and well researched but also very accessible to the layman.

This is not light bedtime reading. Rather, it appears to be a textbook masquerading as popular history. The book begins with an attempt to explain plague ecology. As an academic with a background in both history and ecology I found this section raised more questions than it answered. By the time Gottfried moved the plague from its endemic homes in Asia through 14th C Europe we knew what it was, how it moved, and were thoroughly saturated with facts about the purported and hypothetically actual mortality in every major city in Europe. But some things don't add up. If, for instance, the mortality rate for bubonic plague was 50%, and 50% of the population of Siena died in the first attack, then every man, woman, and child in Siena was infected. Even in an era of poor sanitation and relaxed attitudes toward personal hygiene, that strains our credulity.

The second half of the book is less tedious. Here Gottfried deals with the effects of the plague, on medicine, economics, government, sociology, and many other aspects of life in the late Middle Ages. This is history as it should be written, and it is hard to believe the same author wrote the overwhelmingly dull first half. My recommendation: buy this book only if you have an academic interest in the effects of the plague on pre-Renaissance European affairs.

There is no subject as "The Black Death" that has aroused so many chilling stories around it. From Bocaccio's "Decameron" to Stephen King's "The Stand" thru Poe's "The Masque of the Red Death" and Stewart's "Earth Abides", innumerable literary works had grown from these memories. It has left an inextinguishable fear of sudden death and extinction by the appearance of a deadly pestilence.

Professor Gottfried has written a very comprehensive study, examining different aspects as climate, sanitary status, and medical knowledge at those times, in order to establish a solid background to his investigation.
In a comparatively short text, he is able to give the reader, a very complete picture of the dreadful events occurred in Europe between 1347 and 1351.
The book starts with a study of the different plagues occurred in the Ancient World comparing their evolution and effects on the Mediterranean populations.
It follows with a description of Europe between years 1050 till 1347 taking into account: population, political system, agriculture, religion and commerce.
Finally describes what happens from the initial appearance of the pestilence at the port of Messina and its vertiginous spread all over Europe.
Mortality is estimated in 25% of the total population, with peaks of 50% in certain cities. Chaos and under population affected the region for at least two centuries.

Professor Gottfried extracts lots of information from contemporary texts, giving a very attractive rhythm to the narration, without omitting references to more complex sources.
At the end of the book a very detailed bibliography is given, so the reader interested in the subject may expand the research for himself.
Reviewed by Max Yofre.

As a student of Medieval History. This was the most rewarding book on the black death I have read. The bibliography at the end of the book gave me a new path to learn more about this period of time. This book explained in detail why Europe went into the Dark Ages, that it was not an overnight process. Upon completion of reading this book, I have looked at the new emerging viruses and see how it could happen again.

Gottfried's Black Death is one of the best books on the subject. The black death was a period of history that its participants would soon forget, at the expense of future generations. The author has managed to scour Europe and collect an incredable resource of singularly obscure facts to form the "big picture." The Black Death permanently changed the world, and brought about the Renaissance

This book is a long time favorite: history as it ought to be taught and presented. Gottfried has a lucid style that is easy to read, understand and remember. The book reads more interestingly than much fiction, and presents everything from a history of disease and epidemics to examples of historical detective work: what was the mortality rate in an area? Well, how many people paid taxes one year, and how many paid the next year?

This is a book that I pick up and re-read when I can't think what else I'm in the mood for. It's still fascinating after three or four readings and at least as many browsings and scannings. Highly recommended.

There has been nothing in modern medicine to parallel the devastation of the Plague. This books is not easy reading, not lightly touched upon history. More of a masquerading study presented as a historical work, with a dash of detective work tossed in. Gottfried sets the stage of the emergence of the plague, traces its thorough and relentless progress across Europe, drawing on a wealth of documents, such as church and tax records, records written in six different languages from poets, historians and physicians of the period.

He shows how the cycles of outbreak of plague beginning in 1347 and lasting over hundreds of year, nearly singlehandedly broke the spine of feudalism, even to challenged the papal authority of the church, and shook up medicine completely. He draws comparisons so you have a focal point to which you can wrap your mind around such as during the first major outbreak lasting four years, he estimate between 17 and 28 million souls died a horrible death, contrasting that to the causalities of World War I where 8 1/2 million died. His study shows the areas of cities and over population, where the sanitary conditions were nonexistent, the mortality rate ran to 40-50%, pointing out London suffered nearly 300 death daily in the Summer of 1349.

Civil authority nearly broke down as fear and panic seized the masses, bizarre cults appeared like the Flagellistic ones, that went from town to town whipping themselves as punishment for the sins of mankind. Many saw it as the end of the world, Dooms Day, the time for the second coming of Christ.

Gottfried recreates this nightmare world that serves as a warning for all generations in vivid detail.

I do wish he had gone more into the witch-craze beginning to sweep the lands, and how the Church's ordering of the killing of all cats, fearing they were witches or witches familiars strongly contributed to the spread of the plague.

sigh...maybe in another book...

Still a must for writers of this historical period.