The Black Death (Philip Ziegler)

From 1347-50, about one-third of Europeans were killed by that infamous plague, the Black Death.  Its origins, nature, and consequences (economic, social, religious, and other) are discussed in a book of the same name by Philip Ziegler.  He also covers its spread through Europe and how certain regions (Italy, France, Germany, and Britain) were specifically afflicted.  He includes a historical fiction example of how it would have played out in a typical Medieval English village, and includes brief coverage discussing the toll in lives and ramifications to education, agriculture, and architecture.  By his own admission, "this book contains no original research.  It is an attempt to synthesise in a single readable but reasonably comprehensive volume the records of the contemporary chroniclers and the work of later historian, in particular the great flood of PhD theses . . ."

A summary of the Black Death: This wasn't the first time a plague of this variety hit mankind- in fact, we know about three such pandemics.  The first recorded instance occurred in 542.  This book deals with the second- starting around 1347- which is certainly the best known.  Once it hit in force, it came and went periodically (every few years, or decades, or even centuries) until it petered out around the great London plague of 1665 (see my book review here for coverage on that event).  In fact, for the Black Death,

The high mortality of its initial impact is followed by a long period in which it lies endemic, a period interspersed with occasional epidemics which gradually die away in frequency and violence.  Finally, perhaps several hundred years after the original outbreak, the plague vanished.

There was a third outbreak that began around 1892, and lingered into even the 1970s, where it could be found "in the Azores and parts of South America."  In this most recent run, about six million were killed in India alone.

Three kinds of plague collectively made up the Black Death:
- bubonic plague (largely lethal (60-90%?), it would kill in 4-7 days)
- pneumonic or pulmonary plague (nearly 100% lethal, it would kill in <2 days)
- septicaemic plague (rarest; also nearly 100% lethal and killed in <2 days)

This 1348 epidemic may have begun 10 years prior in central Asia, and was carried to the Mediterranean ports (where the effects were often felt earliest and hardest).  It was mostly transmitted by fleas living on rats, though in rare cases (with the pulmonary variants) it could be airborne.  The overall death estimate is approximated at 33%, though of course it could vary widely by region and its consequences were similarly varied.  Some villages never recovered; others were back to some semblance of 'normal' within a few years.  Regardless of local impact, on a broader scale society would never be the same again.  Drop the population by a third and large-scale changes are inevitable.  Some have gone so far to say that the Plague was ultimately responsible for the Renaissance and Reformation.

The overall spread of the plague is shown in the map below.

A map of the Plague's progress (source: pinterest)

This book was okay.  The author did a good job researching and presenting multiple viewpoints and theories- a necessary approach when handling such a poorly documented era.  His prose is good- in places excellent- and was mostly enjoyable to read.  I knew about the social impacts (higher worker wages and mobility, for example), but learned a good deal about other effects- like the loss of the educated class and how that affected education, religious instruction, and craftsmanship, for example.

Where it breaks down is the repetition and qualifications.  For repetition, as he covers each country and then zooms in on Britain (about a third focuses on just this country), its the same story over and over again, making me wonder if so many examples were necessary.  Yes, there were minor regional variations, but by and large, few areas escaped the plague, and each was affected in largely similar fashion.  One city may have lost 23% of its population, and another 45%, but the bottom line was that lots of people suffered, and he takes a long time to get to that point.

For qualifications, those got annoying quickly, as there were qualifications within qualifications.  I'll paraphrase a typical argument as an example: "some say the Black Death was the sole cause of the era that advanced the rights of labor.  But others say it had little effect.  It probably played a large role, but not as large as some state, but not as little as others state.  But an important role nevertheless.  But not the sole motivator."  etc. etc.  Over and over and over again.  Yes, I get that generalization is dangerous, and qualifications are necessary.  Ultimately, the author concludes where he could have started: the Black Death was a major factor in societal change and accelerated- but did not create- advances in many areas, to include labor and religion.  There- done.  This combined with the aforementioned repetition made the book unnecessarily long.

In the end, this was a decent read, but not as compelling as I hoped.  I think Barbara Tuchman's 25-page treatment of the topic in A Distant Mirror (review) may convey the same essence in 10% of the space.

Rating: B