The Black Death 1346-1353: The Complete History
Ole J. Benedictow
Unique, sensational and shocking, this revelatory book provides, for the first time, a complete Europe-wide history of the Black Death. The author's painstakingly comprehensive research throws fresh light on the nature of the disease, its origin, its spread, on an almost day-to-day basis, across Europe, Asia Minor, the Middle East and North Africa, its mortality rate and its impact on history. These latter two aspects are of central importance here, for it is demonstrated that the plague's death rates have consistently been under-estimated and that they were in fact much higher, making the disease's long-term effects on history even more profound.
OLE J. BENEDICTOW is Professor of History at the University of Oslo.
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DETAILS
1 colour illustrations
2 b/w illustrations
11 line illustrations
464 pages
Size: 23.4 x 15.6 cm
13 digit ISBN: 9781843832140
Binding: Paperback
First published: 13/Feb/2006
Last printed: 26/Sep/2008
Price: 47.95 USD / 25.00 GBP
Imprint: Boydell Press
Subject: Medieval History
BIC class: GBC
STATUS: Available
Details updated on 05/01/2009
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Reviews
The thoroughness and precision of [Benedictow's] research are admirable. [...] Opens a treasure trove of correct information.
There is no doubt that [the book] should be acquired by all university libraries. FIFTEENTH-CENTURY STUDIES
Every library that covers population studies, epistemology, or medieval history should have a copy of Benedictow's book. POPULATION STUDIES & DEVELOPMENT
A book which should be on every Late-Medievalist's bookshelf. It is packed with valuable and well-considered accounts. ... A wonderful compilation of data which will be widely used for many years to come. MEDIEVAL ARCHAEOLOGY
[This] remarkable, engrossing and controversial study is the first to assemble and synthesize historical data from every region in which the Black Death wrought havoc. [...] An immense and entirely breathtaking feat of scholarship...and a moving quest to account for a cruel phenomenon. TLS
[This] magisterial account mixes demographic research, meticulous reading of the chronicles and modern bacteriology. THE GUARDIAN
The author...has achieved a Herculean task in reviewing a very large part of the literature on the pestilential disease or set of diseases that afflicted Europe from 1346 to 1353. THE MEDIEVAL REVIEW
A valuable addition to the historiography of the Black Death. Highly recommended. CHOICE
Ambitious and contentious. ENGLISH HISTORICAL REVIEW
Those looking for a vast compendium of local data will not be disappointed. SPECULUM
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