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In the Wake of the Plague: The Black Death and the World it Made (Central Asian Studies) by: Norman F. Cantor

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Publisher: Pocket Books
Release date: 4th February, 2002
Media: Paperback

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Rating: - Don't waste your money on this book

Norma Cantor may be the Emeritus Professor of History, Sociology and Comparative Literature at New York University, but he cannot write serious prose about a serious subject. His writing is infantile; it has numerous editorial errors, frequent repetitions and idiotic references (such as the Plague "threatened the stability and viability of civilization. It was as if a neutron bomb had been detonated". Plain crass.

Bottom Line: Don't waste your money on buying this book

Rating: - A plague upon your book, sir!

Professor Cantor is supposed to be a gentleman of academic standing, and, one supposes, learning. That he wrote a book of such ridiculously infantile proportions is a disgrace both to him, and to the company that saw fit to publish it. Neither seems to have any respect for the reader whatsoever. I pass over the juvenile summarisation of the history of England's Plantagent Kings (although one wonders whether Prof. Cantor has ever bothered to read primary accounts of the martyrdom of Thomas Becket), the insulting references to medieval religious attitudes, and the allegedly humourous asides that would produce sycophantic laughter only from students who need a decent grade. What had this reader throwing the book across the room before being half way through it, and being glad I had only borrowed it from the library not actually given over any money for it, was the learned medivialist's assertion that the largest gothic church in the world is in New York City. Um, that would be a gothic-style church, or perhaps even neo-gothic, what with the whole point of the new world being that it wasn't medival europe...

Rating: - If You Liked A Distant Mirror, You Will Love This Book!

This book deserves more than five stars for being the most interesting, enjoyable and insightful book I have read about the Middle Ages.

In the title, I compare this book to A Distant Mirror. In the Wake of the Plague has the advantage of being shorter, more concise, and more interesting. As an example of the difference, Professor Cantor recounts the advice he always gave his students. If they ever saw someone taking a shower next to them with black sores under their arm pits, they should begin to leave the shower. If at the same time, they saw a rat, they should run at once without bothering to dress. Now, how many history books contain material like that?

If history books were all like this one, everyone would want to study history. Professor Cantor combines a keen intellect, a wonderful sense of irony, great knowledge, and the common touch to provide a fascinating story about what happened during the Black Death in Europe and what its consequences were.

It is estimated that more than one-third of Europe's population died in 1347-1350 from what they called "the pestilence." While most history books describe this as coming from Bubonic Plague, Professor Cantor makes a strong case for Anthrax also being involved. Think of this as being like having biological warfare introduced into a major population, with almost all those who sicken dying within two weeks. The population did not reach the same levels in Europe again until around 1750.

Professor Cantor shrewdly chooses England and a few notable individuals to take this epic crisis and personalize it. The deaths of just a few people had far-ranging consequences on European history. For example, Edward III's daughter, Princess Joan, died of the pestilence in Bordeaux on her way to marry Prince Pedro, the heir of Castile. Her death cost the English the chance to establish a major position in Spain that they were unable to win by force of arms over the next hundred years.

Two of the church's most advanced thinkers, Thomas of Birmingham (abbot of Halesowen) and William of Occam were victims also. If they had lived, scientific thought might well have advanced much sooner. Today's world might have the science that we will only experience in 2200 if they had lived.

The subsequent shortages of people caused the English forces to be weaker on the continent against the French. Further, dynastic deaths caused the Plantagenets to be at war with one another (in the War of the Roses) so they were divided when Joan of Arc led the French to victory. Thus, British influence crested in Europe although the Hundred Years' War had a long time to go.

In Spain, France, and Germany, Jews were often accused of "poisoning the water" to create the deaths. Many pogroms followed, and many Jews moved to Poland as a result.

But there were some benefits. Wonderful tapestries were created to hang over windows to keep out "the miasma" that many believed brought the pestilence. Serfdom declined more rapidly. The status of women rose. Wages rose for common people. Talented young people were able to advance faster. The power of the kings declined more rapidly.

After you finish enjoying this fascinatng book, I suggest you think about some modern human catastrophe or loss of life and what its implications are. You could choose the Holocaust, the volcanic explosion of Krakatoa, the dropping of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the AIDS epidemic, or whatever else strikes your fancy. See how using Professor Cantor's technique can extend your understanding, in the process.

Rating: - DIsappointing

The first problem with this book seems to be that the publishers couldn't quite decide who to pitch it to - the mass market, or as a niche academic read. As a result, it falls somewhere between the two, thus almost guaranteeing that its reception won't be exactly warm as a pestilent fever.

The second problem is that it really isn't that interesting. The text is largely dry, and will probably provide no new information to anyone with a general grasp of the workings and significance of the Bubonic Plague and Yersina Pestis (although the anthrax information is slightly more interesting - what there is of it).

A quick, easy read, but insubstantial. I was hoping for significantly more.

Rating: - Undisciplined and sloppy

I feel this title lacked the academic and literary discipline which you would expect of a scholarly work of this kind. The most negative striking feature I feel is the sloppy prose; indeed in one instance Cantor describes Eleanor of Acquitaine's second husband as a "young stud" (not even in my A level days would I have describes Henry II as so). And this example shows how the author meanders chronologically (he gives us a potted, and might I say slanted history of Britain from roughly the twelfth century, which frankly is not needed).
Never before have I stopped reading a book because it was bad, but I would sincerely recommend the reader stear clear of this title. There are many other fine titles out presently such as Ziegler's 'The Black Death' and Cohen's new book 'The Black Death Transformed' which will more than adequately satiate any intellectual interest you have in the subject.

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