The Great Mortality

An Intimate History of the Black Death, the Most Devastating Plague of All Time (P.S.)

by Kelly, John, John Kelly undifferentiated

400 pages

English language

Published Jan. 31, 2006 by Harper Perennial.

ISBN:: 978-0-06-000693-8
OCLC Number:: 68437303

(7 reviews)

Chronicles the Great Plague that devastated Asia and Europe in the fourteenth century, documenting the experiences of people who lived during its height while describing the decline of moral boundaries that also marked the period.

3 editions

johnny dangerously. reviewed The Great Mortality by Kelly, John

Review of 'The Great Mortality' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

I cannot recommend this book highly enough. It does a fantastic job of not only telling me about the plague, but using the plague as a jumping off point to talk about the character of medieval man, the culture of the medieval period, and the science that pervaded the period (both real -- what caused the plague was very real indeed -- and ficticious -- New Galenism is a fascinating thing in retrospect). The book took me a long time to read, because I had to stop for a few months after the chapter on antisemitism turned my stomach, but that isn't the fault of the author so much as my weepy sensibilities. If you want to read about the medieval period through a specific, if gruesome, lens, I cannot recommend this book highly enough.