The Black Death
The History and Legacy of the Middle Ages' Deadliest Plague
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The Black Death
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Narrated by:
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Katherine Thompson
About this listen
If it is true that nothing succeeds like success, then it is equally true that nothing challenges like change. People have historically been creatures of habit and curiosity at the same time, two parts of the human condition that constantly conflict with each other. This has always been true, but at certain moments in history it has been abundantly true, especially during the mid-14th century, when a boon in exploration and travel came up against a fear of the unknown. Together, they both introduced the Black Death to Europe and led to mostly incorrect attempts to explain it.
The Late Middle Ages had seen a rise in Western Europe's population in previous centuries, but these gains were almost entirely erased as the plague spread rapidly across all of Europe from 1346-1353. With a medieval understanding of medicine, diagnosis, and illness, nobody understood what caused Black Death or how to truly treat it. As a result, many religious people assumed it was divine retribution, while superstitious and suspicious citizens saw a nefarious human plot involved and persecuted certain minority groups among them.
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- Length: 27 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 115
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 101
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Story4 out of 5 stars 102
Why do otherwise intelligent individuals form seething masses of idiocy when they engage in collective action? We may think that the Great Crash of 1929, junk bonds of the '80s, and over-valued high-tech stocks of the '90s are peculiarly 20th century aberrations, but Mackay's classic - first published in 1841 - shows that the madness and confusion of crowds knows no limits, and has no temporal bounds.
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5 out of 5 stars
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People don't change
- By J. on 07-05-16
By: Charles MacKay
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St. Patrick of Ireland
- A Biography
- By: Philip Freeman
- Narrated by: Alan Sklar
- Length: 6 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 110
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 63
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Story4 out of 5 stars 64
Ireland's patron saint has long been shrouded in legend: he drove the snakes out of Ireland; he triumphed over Druids and their super-natural powers; he used a shamrock to explain the Christian mystery of the Trinity. But his true story is more fascinating than the myths.
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5 out of 5 stars
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A Wonderful Discription
- By L. Thibodeaux on 08-12-05
By: Philip Freeman
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Get Well Soon
- History's Worst Plagues and the Heroes Who Fought Them
- By: Jennifer Wright
- Narrated by: Gabra Zackman
- Length: 7 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 8,750
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 8,039
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 8,006
In 1518, in a small town in Alsace, Frau Troffea began dancing and didn't stop. She danced until she was carried away six days later, and soon 34 more villagers joined her. Then more. In a month more than 400 people had been stricken by the mysterious dancing plague. In late-19th-century England an eccentric gentleman founded the No Nose Club in his gracious townhome - a social club for those who had lost their noses, and other body parts, to the plague of syphilis for which there was then no cure.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Didn't know syphilis could be so fascinating.
- By Kindle Customer on 02-09-17
By: Jennifer Wright
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Heidi
- By: Johanna Spyri
- Narrated by: Marnie MacAdam
- Length: 8 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 250
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 209
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 215
Heidi is sent to live with her embittered grandfather high in the Swiss Alps. Heidi's innocent joy of life and genuine concern and love for all living things become the old man's salvation. From the goat - herder Peter and his family to the sickly girl Clara and her desperate father, Heidi's special charm enriches everyone she meets. Unselfish to the core, Heidi's goodness overcomes all obstacles - even those seemingly insurmountable.
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2 out of 5 stars
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Auditory quality not acceptable
- By D. A. Smith on 07-28-13
By: Johanna Spyri
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Journal of the Plague Year
- By: Daniel Defoe
- Narrated by: Andrew Cullum
- Length: 10 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 125
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 100
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 99
First published in March 1722, 57 years after the event that struck more than 100,000 people, Journal of the Plague Year is a compelling portrait of life during London's horrific bubonic plague. Through the eyes of H.F. (speculated to be Defoe's uncle, Henry Foe, from whose journals the book was supposedly adapted) we witness great grief, depravity and despair: crazed sufferers roam the streets, unearthly screams resound across the city, death carts dump their grisly loads into mass graves, and quackery and skulduggery feed on fear. But there is kindness and courage too, as mutual support and caring are upheld through the worst of days.
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4 out of 5 stars
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The novel as journalism
- By Tad Davis on 12-22-18
By: Daniel Defoe
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American Witches
- A Broomstick Tour through Four Centuries
- By: Susan Fair
- Narrated by: Coleen Marlo
- Length: 7 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 623
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 562
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Story4 out of 5 stars 560
On a tour through history that's both whimsical and startling, we'll encounter 17th-century children flying around inside their New England home "like geese". We'll meet a father-son team of pious Puritans who embarked on a mission that involved undressing ladies and overseeing hangings. And on the eve of the Civil War, we'll accompany a reporter as he dons a dress and goes searching for witches in New York City's most dangerous neighborhoods.
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1 out of 5 stars
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Christan witch book
- By Nicole on 09-01-20
By: Susan Fair
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Reformation Women
- Sixteenth-Century Figures Who Shaped Christianity's Rebirth
- By: Rebecca VanDoodewaard
- Narrated by: Sarah Zimmerman
- Length: 3 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall5 out of 5 stars 33
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 28
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Story5 out of 5 stars 29
In Reformation Women, Rebecca Vandoodewaard introduces listeners to 12 16th-century women who are not as well known today as contemporaries like Katie Luther and Lady Jane Grey. Providing an example to Christians today of strong service to Christ and his church, these influential, godly women were devoted to Reformation truth, in many cases provided support for their husbands, practiced hospitality, and stewarded their intellectual abilities.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Excellent read
- By Ana L Thompson on 05-18-20
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A Delusion of Satan
- The Full Story of the Salem Witch Trials
- By: Frances Hill
- Narrated by: Wanda McCaddon
- Length: 9 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 155
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 132
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Story4 out of 5 stars 132
During the bleak winter of 1692 in the rigid Puritan community of Salem Village, Massachusetts, a group of young girls began experiencing violent fits, allegedly tormented by Satan and the witches who worshipped him. From the girls' initial denouncing of an Indian slave, the accusations soon multiplied. In less than two years, 19 men and women were hanged, one was pressed to death, and over a hundred others were imprisoned and impoverished. This evenhanded and now-classic history illuminates the horrifying episode with visceral clarity.
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5 out of 5 stars
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A new take on the Witch Trials
- By Jolene Correll on 02-17-15
By: Frances Hill
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The Journal of the Plague Year
- London, 1665
- By: Daniel Defoe
- Narrated by: Nelson Runger
- Length: 9 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 311
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 233
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Story4 out of 5 stars 231
London's Great Plague of 1665 devastated the city, as Europe's final bubonic outbreak killed thousands of helpless citizens. Daniel Defoe, author of the classic Robinson Crusoe, was five years old when the Plague swept through London, and grew up hearing many stories - some truthful, others exaggerated - of its deadly effects. Blending those anecdotes with his childhood recollections and factual data from government registers, Defoe wrote this comprehensive account of what happened to London in 1665.
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2 out of 5 stars
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Tedious
- By Ellen Spertus on 08-29-03
By: Daniel Defoe
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A Distant Mirror
- The Calamitous Fourteenth Century
- By: Barbara W. Tuchman
- Narrated by: Wanda McCaddon
- Length: 28 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 2,367
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,700
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,713
The 14th century reflects two contradictory images: on the one hand, a glittering time of crusades and castles, cathedrals and chivalry, and the exquisitely decorated Books of Hours; and on the other, a time of ferocity and spiritual agony, a world of chaos and the plague.
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5 out of 5 stars
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And you thought the twentieth century was rough...
- By Rob on 03-23-06
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The Faithful Executioner
- Life and Death, Honor and Shame in the Turbulent Sixteenth Century
- By: Joel F. Harrington
- Narrated by: James Gillies
- Length: 9 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 708
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 648
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 642
Based on the rare and until now overlooked journal of a Renaissance-era executioner, the noted historian Joel F. Harrington's The Faithful Executioner takes us deep inside the alien world and thinking of Meister Frantz Schmidt of Nuremberg, who, during 45 years as a professional executioner, personally put to death 394 individuals and tortured, flogged, or disfigured many hundreds more. But the picture that emerges of Schmidt from his personal papers is not that of a monster. Could a man who routinely practiced such cruelty also be insightful?
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5 out of 5 stars
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Excellent
- By James on 03-30-18
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God's Traitors
- Terror & Faith in Elizabethan England
- By: Jessie Childs
- Narrated by: James Adams
- Length: 14 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 39
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 37
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 36
For many Catholics, the Elizabethan "Golden Age" was an alien concept. Following the criminalization of their religion by Elizabeth I, nearly 200 Catholics were executed, and many more wasted away in prison during her reign. Torture was used more than at any other time in England's history. While some bowed to the pressure of the government and new church, publicly conforming to acts of Protestant worship, others did not - and quickly found themselves living in a state of siege.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Well-researched, well-written
- By Charles on 03-23-15
By: Jessie Childs
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The Pilgrim Chronicles: An Eyewitness History of the Pilgrims and the Founding of Plymouth Colony
- By: Rod Gragg
- Narrated by: Micah Lee
- Length: 7 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 51
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 48
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 48
All Americans are familiar with the story of the Pilgrims--persecuted for their religion in the Old World, they crossed the ocean to settle in a wild and dangerous land. But for most of us, the story ends after their brutal first winter at Plymouth, with a supposedly peaceful encounter with the Native Americans and a happy Thanksgiving.
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5 out of 5 stars
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I loved it!
- By tiffany on 12-22-15
By: Rod Gragg
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Black Tudors
- The Untold Story
- By: Miranda Kaufmann
- Narrated by: Corrie James
- Length: 10 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 68
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 55
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 53
A Black porter publicly whips a White English gentleman in a Gloucestershire manor house. A heavily pregnant African woman is abandoned on an Indonesian island by Sir Francis Drake. A Mauritanian diver is dispatched to salvage lost treasures from the Mary Rose.... Miranda Kaufmann reveals the absorbing stories of some of the Africans who lived free in Tudor England.
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5 out of 5 stars
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I thought I knew it all...
- By Sylvia Schmidt on 08-01-19
By: Miranda Kaufmann
What listeners say about The Black Death
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance2 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- margaret king
- 05-13-16
No more than a passable introduction
If you have no prior knowledge of this traumatic time in Western European history, this will serve as a passable introduction, but if you have done some reading on the topic it may add little to your knowledge.
Listen to the sound clip before buying, just to check that the narrator doesn't grate on your exposed nerve endings. I neglected to do so and regretted that oversight.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Ethan
- 11-13-16
Very interesting
Accounts from people who lived through the Black Death. Very interesting how they describe the mass population, dealing with the plague and how peoples habits changed.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Pamfaulkmd
- 11-28-15
Easy to understand
A clear explanation of the scope and importance of the Black Death with an emphasis on the changes it caused in Medieval Europe.
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2 people found this helpful