Shop Ireland

The Great Mortality: An Intimate History of the Black Death by: John Kelly

Click to tell a friend about this item...

Publisher: HarperPerennial
Release date: 3rd January, 2006
Media: Paperback

Similar Products

• The Black Death: An Intimate History
• Return of the Black Death: The World's Greatest Serial Killer
• The Black Death: The Intimate Story of a Village in Crisis, 1345-50: An Intimate History
• The Black Death (Manchester Medieval Sources)
• The Time Traveller's Guide to Medieval England: A Handbook for Visitors to the Fourteenth Century
• See more...

Click here to add a review!

Average rating -

Rating: - Brought the Black Death to Life

A hugely readable account of the Black Death. It was helpful to get the medical perspective as well as the historical, and to see the trail that the plague made right across the western world. I really recommend this book.

Rating: - Well researched account of a horrifying time

John Kelly has produced a comprehensive, well-researched account of the Black Death from its origins on the plains of Samarkand to its domination of Europe and eventual recession that is by-turns harrowing, humane and always fascinating.

He's clearly done a lot of work looking at both source material and modern articles (the end notes run to over 30 pages) that attempt to explain why the Black Death was so virulent and so devastating, but isn't afraid to insert his own opinion. Particularly interesting was his description of the different types of plague and how it is communicated (which, as a non-scientist, I found lucid and easy to follow). His final chapter draws out some of the current arguments being made that the Black Death was actually a strain of Ebola and although I would have liked this to be a little more in-depth, he deals with the arguments for and against in a succinct manner.

In terms of social history, there's a great deal to be taken from this book, including aspects of diet and housing but also some of the politics and every-day attitudes. One chapter focuses on anti-Semitism and how it increased as a result of the Black Death and although it makes for very uncomfortable reading, it helps to explain the roots of anti-Semitism that are still felt to this day.

My only complaint is that sometimes Kelly lets his imagination get the better of him. There are a couple of instances where he suggests how a particular chronicler may have felt or behaved that seem to bear no relation to the text and which detract from the chronicler's own words. Apart from this however, I really enjoyed the book and would have no hesitation recommending it to people interested in the period or subject matter.

Rating: - A Look at a Pandemic

The author uses fourteenth-century records to document the epidemic that swept through Eurasia and into Europe. This pandemic killed a third of the population in Europe as well as its livestock. John Kelly does a good job at describing daily life, steps taken to avoid contagion, the rise of anti-Semitism, and the social and economic effects of the catastrophic loss of life in Europe. I would have liked to see a little more information on the effects on Asia itself, though I did apreciate the footnote about China. Other than that this was a fine a read as a book on such a subject can be.

Rating: - Interesting

An easy read, strange as that is for a book about the Black Death, The Great Mortality is a well-researched history-travelogue hybrid, with some interesting asides like the effect of plague on the Jewish population and city relations, as well as outlining the debate on plauge/anthrax viruses. It must be treated as a 'hobby' book, rather than a serious text for use in degree work etc, as it does cater for morons like me who read it for fun. The fiction does creep in, with the slightly annoying 'sunsets on a field of gold' twaddle, but it saves it from being a morbid account and makes it intimate. Hats off to John Kelly for giving all the facts, plus a few superfluous ones, without sounding like an especially boring History teacher.

Rating: - Very good research, slightly let down by delivery

On the plus side, this was an interesting and obviously well researched history of the Black Death, being particularly strong on the scientific background and origins of the plague bacillus. On the minus side, the author's journalistic use of overly colourful and sometimes anachronistic phrases and putting imaginary words and actions into the mouths and hands of persons grated rather on me. Also in places I felt he digressed a little too far from the main narrative into interesting but not directly relevant (at least not in so much detail) historical developments. Overall though, well worth reading.

Browse Categories

• - General
• - Black Death
• - General AAS
• - General AAS
• - English
• - Paperback
• - Regular Size