The Great Plague: The Story of London's Most Deadly Year

by A. Lloyd Moote, Dorothy C. Moote

In the winter of 1664-65, a bitter cold descended on London in the days before Christmas. Above the city, an unusually bright comet traced an arc in the sky, exciting much comment and portending "horrible windes and tempests." And in the remote, squalid precinct of St. Giles-in-the-Fields outside the city wall, Goodwoman Phillips was pronounced dead of the plague. Her house was locked up and the phrase "Lord Have Mercy On Us" was painted on the door in red. By the following Christmas, the pathogen that had felled Goodwoman Phillips would go on to kill nearly 100,000 people living in and around London—almost a third of those who did not flee. This epidemic had a devastating effect on the city's economy and social fabric, as well as on those who lived through it. Yet somehow the city continued to function and the activities of daily life went on.

In The Great Plague, historian A. Lloyd Moote and microbiologist Dorothy C. Moote provide an engrossing and deeply informed account of this cataclysmic plague year. At once sweeping and intimate, their narrative takes readers from the palaces of the city's wealthiest citizens to the slums that housed the vast majority of London's inhabitants to the surrounding countryside with those who fled. The Mootes reveal that, even at the height of the plague, the city did not descend into chaos. Doctors, apothecaries, surgeons, and clergy remained in the city to care for the sick; parish and city officials confronted the crisis with all the legal tools at their disposal; and commerce continued even as businesses shut down.

To portray life and death in and around London, the authors focus on the experiences of nine individuals—among them an apothecary serving a poor suburb, the rector of the city's wealthiest parish, a successful silk merchant who was also a city alderman, a country gentleman, and famous diarist Samuel Pepys. Through letters and diaries, the Mootes offer fresh interpretations of key issues in the history of the Great Plague: how different communities understood and experienced the disease; how medical, religious, and government bodies reacted; how well the social order held together; the economic and moral dilemmas people faced when debating whether to flee the city; and the nature of the material, social, and spiritual resources sustaining those who remained.

Underscoring the human dimensions of the epidemic, Lloyd and Dorothy Moote dramatically recast the history of the Great Plague and offer a masterful portrait of a city and its inhabitants besieged by—and defiantly resisting—unimaginable horror.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, British Literature

357 pages, Paperback

First published January 20, 2004

About the author

A. Lloyd Moote was an emeritus professor at the University of Southern California, and affiliated professor at Rutgers University.

Reviews

[☕Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found this book a little dry and lacking the human element that would have allowed me to better connect. However, reading it at this particular time was interesting because there were so many similarities between what London went through in 1665 and what we are going through now. Although they didn't yet understand the processes underlying disease transmission, they realized that being in close contact seemed to spread disease, and closed down places where people would congregate. And then, as now, there were those who saw this as too much of an imposition and defied all the regulations. It is interesting to see how human nature has in many ways remained unchanged over several hundred years.

[Abigail Hartman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Any book entirely about plague is bound to be at least a little depressing, and it would not be fair to say that this one, with its discussion of death tolls and plague pits and fear of the unknown, is just a lovely light read for summer. On the other hand, the authors do an amazing job of conveying the more positive aspects of the tragedy; their focus is less on death for the sake of death than on the ways in which London coped with the plague and soldiered on in spite of it. I didn't expect to find the book so engaging, or so moving - not merely depressing, but moving, which is different.

[Boogoalo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well written, very interesting, smart, captures life and plague in 17th century England

[Enneke Lorberg]

I am reading this most fascinating history book right now because my daughter Cydrike Lorberg offered it as a big Xmas surprise to me, jokingly stating " Mom in your earlier life.... you were talking often about this Professor!! Look what discovered and ordered for you: one of his famous books!" ...
I was blown away from the very beginning an totally fascinated while reading this high quality history book by a Professor I remember so well and so clearly during the short time that I was a graduate student at Queens University!! He was the Professor there impressing and inspiring me very much so that now---- after so many long years... I still can remember who he was : so very different and far more personal, OUTGOING, jovial and caring about his students....than most of my far MORE FORMALprofessors at Groningen University in the Netherlands.-- where I had been studying history before---
This books is just so wonderfully inspiring and an example of totally inspiring history writing that I will write a full review after having finished this spellbound reading of history!!!

[Kendall Estep · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read this book for my history of western medicine class. Pretty interesting but it was not my favorite format, jumped around a lot. Good overall but not something I would pick up to read for fun.

[Margo Brooks · Rating 4 out of 5]

I got much more out of this book than I expected. Not only did it meticulously document what happened in London during the plague year of 1665 when 100,000 Londoners died and many more fled for their lives, but it provided a rich context of London at the time. Based on multiple first hand accounts, letters, journals and the Bill of Mortality published each week in the city, the Mootes put a faces on the statistics and transport readers into the narrow streets of London. It was a terrifying journey. I give it 4 stars rather than 5 because there were instances when the timeline got confusing and the narrative jumped back and forth, but in general, I really felt like I was there. It is an amazing piece of scholarship.

[Jane · Rating 2 out of 5]

I often marvel that we still make the statement, "avoid it like the plague" when that outbreak occurred so long ago. That is testament to how severely this effected the human population. I was interested in this book for two reasons: I am going to London in September, and I was curious if it would mention the theory of how cystic fibrosis may have served as an evolutionary benefit back in the days of plague. This book did not cover that, but it certainly had some interesting information, much of which relied on Samuel Pepys diary.

[Elaine · Rating 4 out of 5]

An amazing, in-depth look at the great plague in London, tracking actual people who lived in London at the time. A rich tapestry of historical snippets--church registers, death lists, letters, and other documents to piece together a picture of what life was like amidst so much death and uncertainty.

[Anne · Rating 2 out of 5]

I thought this had a lot of great primary sources, but the major story of the epidemic disappeared within the sea of characters. Stronger organization and better reader tools (references to characters, maps, timelines) would have helped me stay focused in this book about a very complex time.

[Jane Walker · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent. A very readable but in-depth study of the 1665 plague. It uses the writings of people like Pepys who lived through it, but it also draws on very extensive research, and concludes with a brief history of the disease after 1665. Thoroughly recommended.

[Molly Woodcock · Rating 2 out of 5]

History aside this book was awful. The print was so small, the only way to read the book was in very good light and 1/2 an inch away from my face.

[Allison6876 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read for paper for HIST 3704W

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read while doing research on plague pits during my work toward my Master in Liberal Arts from Stanford.