The Great Mortality : An Intimate History of the Black Death, The Most Devastating Plague of All Time

Rating:
Summary: Really brings the Black Death to life
Review: Although it sometimes gets a little text-bookish, The Great Mortality does a brilliant job of bringing the dark times of the Black Death to life.
John Kelly's research brought some of the millions of personal stories involved in that plague to the page in heratbreaking and, surprisingly, sometimes hilarious detail.
After reading this book, I sure intend to keep a cleaner apartment and flea free pets!

Rating:
Summary: An enthralling, compelling read!
Review: Reading this book was like tumbling down a rabbit hole into the Middle Ages. It was enthralling, but also very precise and easy to follow in its explanation of exactly how a tiny rat flea came to cause such death and destruction all over Europe and Asia. The cities come alive, like they're characters in their
own right, and even though what is being described happened centuries ago, it felt like something like it could happen again. I read it in one sitting! FIVE
STARS