The Great Mortality

An Intimate History of the Black Death, the Most Devastating Plague of All Time

By: John Kelly

Narrated by: Matthew Lloyd Davies

“Powerful, rich with details, moving, humane, and full of important lessons for an age when weapons of mass destruction are loose among us.” — Richard Rhodes, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Making of the Atomic Bomb

The Great Plague is one of the most compelling events in human history—even more so now, when the notion of plague has never loomed larger as a contemporary public concern.

The plague that devastated Asia and Europe in the 14th century has been of never-ending interest to both scholarly and general readers. Many books on the plague rely on statistics to tell the story: how many people died; how farm output and trade declined. But statistics can’t convey what it was like to sit in Siena or Avignon and hear that a thousand people a day are dying two towns away. Or to have to chose between your own life and your duty to a mortally ill child or spouse. Or to live in a society where the bonds of blood and sentiment and law have lost all meaning, where anyone can murder or rape or plunder anyone else without fear of consequence.

In The Great Mortality, author John Kelly lends an air of immediacy and intimacy to his telling of the journey of the plague as it traveled from the steppes of Russia, across Europe, and into England, killing 75 million people—one third of the known population—before it vanished.

Nice overview

Was easy for me to study and really humanized the plague. Also did a nice job expressing the effects of the plague.

Jackpot!

New favorite! I’ve been interested in this subject since I was a child and I’m in love with this book. Educational and entertaining. Fascinating, addictive, and strangely uplifting, it’s a “no holds barred” dive into one of the most significant times in our human history. I highly recommend this book for anyone interested in the Black Death! Thank you.

The Great Mortality

The facts fascinated me most. The long story was interesting and it gave me an excellent background of source documents and personal accounts. Narrator was pleasant as one could be on such an event.

History is fascinating

The in-depth scholarship that this book required continues to amaze me. I cannot imagine the level of work involved in finding so much information hidden in unexpected sources! We’re talking about the so called Dark Ages, over 600 yrs ago, when few knew how to read or write much less keep records.
The author makes it readable and entertaining in spite of the morbid topic. And he puts things in context. This book really is a worthy companion to Barbara Tuchman’s A Distant Mirror.

Scattered but do read to the end

The story jumps at times with little regard for timeline. It was hard to follow through those parts. Quite often there are wide brush strokes when it comes to geography and history. An example of it is citing Prussia in 1300’s. So it is best to stay engaged and not wander off while listening because or one can feel lost. That is also a bow to authors ability to stick to the main path he leads the listener- reader on.