The Black Death

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Philip Ziegler traces the black plague's devastating journey from Asia to Italy and across Europe. Originally published in 1969, this study was hailed by the Guardian as "exciting and readable." The new edition features over seventy contemporary black-and-white illustrations and eight pages of color. The plague's onset was marked by a series of natural disasters in the Orient during the mid-14th century, leading to one of Europe's deadliest periods. By autumn 1347, the Black Death reached the eastern Mediterranean, unleashing a relentless epidemic. Between 1347 and 1350, one-third of England's population perished, and over a thousand villages were abandoned. Towns struggled with overcrowded cemeteries, while violence and crime surged. Travel became perilous, and disruptions in food supply led to widespread hunger among those already facing the threat of death. In rural areas, populations were halved, causing landowners' profits to plummet. Attempts by the government to regulate wages and prices fueled peasant unrest, culminating in the Peasants' Revolt of 1381. Throughout Europe, societies were upended, racial tensions escalated, and persecution of Jews intensified. The social and economic repercussions of this period extended well into the following century.