The Black Death in London by Barnie Sloane

The Black Death in London

by Barnie Sloane

The Black Death of 1348–49 may have killed more than 50% of the European population. This book examines the impact of this appalling disaster on England's most populous city, London. Using previously untapped documentary sources alongside archaeological evidence, a remarkably detailed picture emerges of the arrival, duration and public response to this epidemic and subsequent fourteenth-century outbreaks. Wills and civic and royal administration documents provide clear evidence of the speed and severity of the plague, of how victims, many named, made preparations for their heirs and families, and of the immediate social changes that the aftermath brought. The traditional story of the timing and arrival of the plague is challenged and the mortality rate is revised up to 50%–60% in the first outbreak, with a population decline of 40–45% across Edward III’s reign. Overall, The Black Death in London provides as detailed a story as it is possible to tell of the impact of the plague on a major mediaeval English city.

Reviewed by elysium on

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Made it to page 70 and gave up. There has been huge list of people who died and when they made their will and what their possible family members got and when they would die. And it goes page after page. Don't know if the whole book is like that but I really don't care.

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  • 21 October, 2011: Reviewed