The Black Death: An Enthralling Overview of a Major Event in the Middle Ages

by Billy Wellman

Boils, religion, and Living with the Black Death in the Middle AgesThe Black Death, also known as the bubonic plague, was the worst pandemic in history. The Black Death was almost always fatal, and it took hundreds of years for populations to bounce back. It claimed millions of lives and set the stage for pandemic responses that are still in use today.This book offers a compelling and comprehensive examination of this period and talks about what we’ve learned from such a horrific disease. Explore interesting facts about this period, and uncover some of the most common misconceptions about one of the most devastating periods in history.In this book, you’ll learn about the Where the Black Death is thought to have come fromHow the disease spreadHow people dealt with the diseaseWhat role religion played in the Black DeathHow the pandemic eventually endedScientific advancements we’ve made since that timeThe consequences of the Black Death throughout historyAnd so much more!Scroll up and click the “add to cart” button to begin learning about the Black Death!

Genres: History, Nonfiction

97 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 2, 2023

Reviews

[Susan “Sam” · Rating 1 out of 5]

1 star due to frightening & repeated errors.

[Jerry Jares · Rating 5 out of 5]

The beauty of books like this is that historians can analyze the events, make conclusions, and help readers understand what happened. The Black Death events were Earth-changing. It took Europe 200 years to return to its previous population count. This is a stunning result and was particularly difficult for landowners who relied on tenants to till the land. So many people had died that finding people to work was difficult.

The Black Death started in 1346 in the East and traveled westward via traders and ships. By the time the pandemic started to wane (in 1353), 200 million people died. This caused staggering problems in the world.

The symptoms and progression of the disease were interesting. Still, the fascinating part of this book included the things the medical community and regular folks found to try to treat the disease. Another fascinating aspect was the different religions' different responses to the disease. Catholics thought getting the Black Death was punishment for their sins. The Muslims took a different attitude; God chose his victims individually, and there was no reason to isolate someone suffering. It is unknown how the Jews viewed the sickness.

This book tries to cover this topic extensively and mentions methods that helped eradicate the disease, including quarantine, sanitation, and the discovery of germ theory. Four Thieves' Vinegar tonic was one of the most widely used. It is still sold today as an essential oil. The Black Death tremendously affected medicine, politics, the church, a preference for isolation, and other attitudes. This book does a fine job of explaining the intricate web of changes that happened because of the Black Death.

[Mark · Rating 5 out of 5]

The word distillation has different meanings but the one I am using signifies "The purest and most concentrated essence of something" according to Google's definition. This is what I mean when saying this is a wonderful distillation of the Black Death. I have taken courses that lasted months and required hours upon hours of study on this huge subject and I have to say that Enthralling History did a damn good job of distilling this subject. It was all presented so clearly without resorting to dumbing it down. This book would have saved me incredible amounts of time and I hope it does for you too. This is a fascinating part of history, rather macabre, but interesting and important to remember. COVID comes to mind. Thank you, Enthralling History, for once again making me glad that I read another one of your books. You have yet to let me down.

[Erwin Pantel · Rating 2 out of 5]

A great deal of errors

The author makes a lot of errors and also tries very hard to make connections between the 14th century Black Death pandemic and the 2020 COVID pandemic, which oftentimes stretch too far and too thinly. Errors such as referring to the Bubonic Plague as being caused by bacteria and then repeatedly writing about the virus should have been fixed by an editor. The story has been told, and has been told better than Black Death: An Enthralling Overview of a Major Event in the Middle Ages (Europe) so I would not recommend this book.

[Jamie Hallen · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really enjoy Billy Wellman's Enthralling History books. There was so much great information in this book. However, there were a few biological mistakes that were tough for me to get through. 1. Bacteria and virus were used interchangeably (they are very different) and 2. "Fitness" as talked about in natural selection has nothing to do with physical fitness (it's an individual's ability to adapt, or "fit' into their environment based on their traits) as is noted in the book. With those fixed, I'd probably give this 4 stars.

[GollyRojer · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an informative and generally entertaining book. It had a lot of information I didn't know, such as: I've always understood that the bubonic plague was spread by rats, but I it seems it was by fleas. And: a vaccine was developed for bubonic plague, but it is not used any more because the disease is curable with antibiotics.
While the book held my interest throughout, at times it became dry reading and my focus tended to wander.

[Joe Tripodi · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Black Death was tragic, where would we be with out it?

This book explains the pandemic in great detail. Not just the disease, but the social and medical changes that effect the world today?

[Debbie Benson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review. I found finding out the true cause of the Black Death interesting. However it was even more so for what they did to counter it and how some practices carry forward to now.

[Hanna Belle · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Black Death was a morbid, dark and fascinating time period in history. It was a major era that its affects are still being felt today, in which everyone needs to learn about.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Tabassum Saba · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating Book

This is an amazing book which make us appreciate science and how in so many ways we are living in better times when it comes to understanding diseases and their treatments.

[Peg · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good Summery of the Black Death

If you’re looking for a good overview of bubonic plague of the Middle Ages this book does the job. It’s an easy fast read that doesn’t try to speak over the readers head.

[JP · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really interesting book, learned lots and was told in such a way to make it memorable.

[Mr J · Rating 2 out of 5]

Too simplistic.

This is not so much an overview as underview. It lacks detail and as also is quite boring. Not recommended.

[Thomas Cassella · Rating 3 out of 5]

Clearly written.

The book clearly explained the plague from beginning to end. However a story like this really could have said more. But mostly it made me want to learn more.

[Lynn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very enjoyable book on a tragic time. I learned many things about how the plague affected life in Europe and Asia, and how it still affects us today.

[Marie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting

[Phil Lewis · Rating 1 out of 5]

Someone is making a lot of money asking ChatGPT to write historical books, and it probably isn't Billy Wellman as I'm fairly sure he doesn't exist.

[Don Voorhees · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a wonderful explanation of bubonic plague and its many ramifications. There is much about the
Plague that I never suspected, but was explained clearly for the reader.

[Iris Coffin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Black Death

A very thorough look at the causes as well as the influence of this disease. It caused so many changes in our lives that I had never dreamed of. A very comprehensive look but easy to read and understand.