Black Death

Rating:
Summary: solid academic analysis
Review: The Black Death is a fairly academic book that seeks to give a comprehensive overview of the plague that ravaged Europe around 1348 (the book only briefly refers to other epedemics that also occurred during the rest of the 14th century). Zeigler points out in his 1997 preface (the book originally being written in 1969) that the book contains "virtually no original research." His goal was to organize, analyze, and present all the various research work, studies, and articles on the Black Death into one complete volume, since apparently there existed no such work at the time.

For the general reader (meaning somebody who, like me, is not a historian or researching to Black Death; presumably such people already know of this book and would not be interested in my review of it), the book is a bit on the dry academic side, but it is still a quite enjoyable read. Zeigler starts with the origins of the disease, and traces it through Italy, France, Spain, England, and the rest of Europe. There is a heavy emphasis on England, which gets about as much space in the book as the rest of Europe combined, apparently because there is much more surviving evidence and information about the plague from England than anywhere else. The result is that the middle of the book seems to bog down in monotonous details about number of deaths in individual towns, counties, etc. that are probably of little interest to most readers.

But there is much more to enjoy. In my case, I know little about the Middle Ages beyond what I learned in grade school; thus I greatly enjoyed the sections on things such as the state of medical knowledge, the Flagellants, the persecution of the Jews, hygeine conditions in London, and other asides that were relevant to the situation at hand.

The last 50 or so pages are also quite interesting, in which Zeigler discusses debate among historians over such issues as the total population of Europe at the time, the death toll from the plague, and the social, economic, agriculture, artistic, and religious effects of the plague, especially in the 50 years afterwards. Again, for some readers, it may seem a dry listing of numbers and facts. But it also shows exactly how historians work to piece together a complete picture of history based on the limited evidence available, and how such evidence can be interpreted in different ways. Zeigler does not put forth any new theories himself, but is willing to give cite the ideas of opposed historians in an effort to show a balanced picture and possibly draw some conclusions from them. In some cases where it is simply impossible for us to truly ever know the real answer (such as exactly what portion of the population died in the plague) Zeigler is willing to hazard some guesses, but also to admit that we really don't know.

There is one major flaw: a 30-page chapter in the book in which Zeigler invents a fictional historical village and narrates the arrival of the plague. In his preface, Zeigler says that he received a lot of criticism for this chapter from those who claimed it had no place in scholarly writing. Zeigler defends the chapter, saying that "statistics and facts alone, however striking, could noconvey the horror that afflicted Europe in the mid-fourteenth century." I agree with him on this point, and I thought the chapter was a good idea, until I actually read it. In my opinion, his fictional writing is so bland and devoid of emotion, that he failed in his attempt to give life to the horrors of the plague and their effect on the average man.

Overall though, I definitely recommend this book to anybody with an interest in European history.

Rating:
Summary: The Definitive History of the Black Death!
Review: This book was actually one of the sources I used for a history paper which I submitted to my grade eleven history teacher. I was amazed at how Mr. Ziegler presents his material. The book is very well written and keeps you in line with all events described. The Black Death truly was the worst natural and man-made disaster in history. Claiming approx. a third of Europe, it led to great changes in Europe itself and left a mark in the people themselves. Ziegler also describes the Black Death from country to country, and the bulk of the book is devoted to England. I have noticed that almost all historians of Medieval Europe have used Ziegler's book (first published in 1969), and I can now see why! If there is one book on the Black Death that you want to read, let it be this one!

Rating:
Summary: The best.
Review: This is simply the best account of the Black Death ever written. It manages to be simultaneously scholarly and readable, while enscapulating a rather amorphous subject and constantly amusing and engaging the reader.