From the Brink of the Apocalypse: Confronting Famine, War, Plague, and Death in the Later Middle Ages [ILLUSTRATED] (Paperback)

by John Aberth (Author) "Famine, our first apocalyptic horseman, connives to wreak its misery repeatedly upon mankind while its victims stand by, seemingly powerless to act..." (more)
Key Phrases: medieval psyche, transi tombs, national outbreak, Black Death, Middle Ages, Hundred Years War (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review
"The author's own enthusiasm for plague and associate calamities in late medieval England and France should prove highly contagious." -- Barrie Dobson, Honorary Professor of History, University of York

Aberth has produced a lively, readable cultural history that contributes to the view that the period 1300-1500 was one of transition, rather than decline...a detailed chronology with maps, and a generous selection of well-chosen illustrations make this a volume of interest both to the general reader and researchers. -- Medievalia et Humanistica
Aberth wears his very considerable and up-to-date scholarship lightly and his study of a series of complex and somber calamites is made remarkably vivid. Not the least virture of his lively hood is the way it places the characteristic literature and art of the period, from fourteenth-century mystical writing to fifteenth-century tombs, into a secure historical context.The authors own enthusiasm for plague and associate calamities in late medieval England and France should prove highly contagious. -- Barrie Dobson, Honorary Professor of History, University of York
Aberths informative and orignally shaped volume is well tailored to bring out the dynamic of mans struggle with his environment in the last two medieval centuries. In his story, War, Plague, and Famine play very full parts, and the treatment here of the medieval attitude to Death, the fourth horseman of the Apocalypse, is especially well presented. -- Maurice Keen, fellow, Balliol College, Oxford
Recommended for academic and larger public libraries. -- Library Journal
Well written and lively, the book will give general and undergraduate students of British history plenty to think about. -- Choice, October 2001
A wonderfully written book with numerous black and white images. -- Biblical Worldview, August 2001
Thorough, balanced, and courteous in tone, this survey of the social, political, and moral landscape of the late Middle Ages inspires confidence even when it invites disagreement. Aberth is especially good on the literature of the period. His wide-ranging and well-illustrated chapter on death in par

The material is interesting and Aberth is a compelling storyteller...Readers may appreciate it for its wide scope, unadorned style, and colorful anecdotes... -- Frans van Liere, Calvin College, for The Historian
Thorough, balanced, and courteous in tone, this survey of the social, political, and moral landscape of the late Middle Ages inspires confidence even when it invites disagreement. Aberth is especially good on the literature of the period. His wide-ranging and well-illustrated chapter on death in particular is offers a splendidly comprehensive overview of a subject which has lately attracted a great deal of first-rate research and writing.--Eamon Duffy, The New York Review of Books.
The author's own enthusiasm for plague and associate calamities in late medieval England and France should prove highly contagious. -- Barrie Dobson, Honorary Professor of History, University of York
Aberths' informative and orignally shaped volume is well tailored to bring out the dynamic of man's struggle with his environment in the last two medieval centuries. -- Maurice Keen, Fellow, Balliol College, Oxford
Well written and lively, the book will give general and undergraduate students of British history plenty to think about. -- Choice, October 2001
A wonderfully written book with numerous black and white images. -- Biblical Worldview, August 2001

The material is interesting and Aberth is a compelling storyteller...Readers may appreciate it for its wide scope, unadorned style, and colorful anecdotes... -- Frans van Liere, Calvin College, for The Historian
Thorough, balanced, and courteous in tone, this survey of the social, political, and moral landscape of the late Middle Ages inspires confidence even when it invites disagreement. Aberth is especially good on the literature of the period. His wide-ranging and well-illustrated chapter on death in particular is offers a splendidly comprehensive overview of a subject which has lately attracted a great deal of first-rate research and writing.--Eamon Duffy, The New York Review of Books.
The authors own enthusiasm for plague and associate calamities in late medieval England and France should prove highly contagious. -- Barrie Dobson, Honorary Professor of History, University of York
Aberths informative and orignally shaped volume is well tailored to bring out the dynamic of mans struggle with his environment in the last two medieval centuries. -- Maurice Keen, Fellow, Balliol College, Oxford
Well written and lively, the book will give general and undergraduate students of British history plenty to think about. -- Choice, October 2001
A wonderfully written book with numerous black and white images. -- Biblical Worldview, August 2001

Product Description
Taking his thematic cues from the biblical Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, Aberth describes this period of unrivaled strife in a compelling, accessible narrative, and takes to task the conventional notion that the later middle ages represented a period of cultural decline.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Routledge; 1 edition (October 1, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0415927161
• ISBN-13: 978-0415927161
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.8 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #778,342 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very thorough!!, April 22, 2006

By	rmbeast "Primus Sucks!!!" (VA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: From the Brink of the Apocalypse : Confronting Famine, War, Plague, and Death in the Later Middle Ages (Hardcover)

This book is great!! I used it to write my final for my Western civilizations class in college. It was on the Black Death, and the Hundred Year's war. It had lots of great info on those subjects. I recommend this book highly for school, or fun.

8 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Easy to enjoy, November 5, 2002

By	Philip Z. Andrews (Coral Gables, Florida United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

The book is not an ornate description of the late middle ages. Rather it attempts to seive data into an outline of what life might have been at the time. At times the data, which should have taken the form of footnotes, becomes the body of the text. Fortunately, this does not happen often. The "Plague" section is a bit amiss with outstreached consequences of the plague, but is nonetheless revealing: I, for one, learned that there were 3 kinds of plagues, the bubonic, pneumonic and septicemic rather than a single sweeping disease. Aberth contends that the Plague claimed more victims than the standard 1/3 demographic decline figure. All in all there is plenty here for a medievalist to keep themselves entertained. I would also recomend, perhaps, reading this in conjunction w/ the video series written and hosted by Simon Schama "A History of Britain".