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The Black Death: A Global History
Thomas Asbridge’s remarkable new book reveals the global impact of humanity’s greatest natural disaster, and the terrible human cost of this calamity.
'An up-to-the-hour work of scholarship that is at the same time a page intimate stories of suffering, death and resilience are situated in large scale social, cultural and economic histories of the ravages of the Black Death as it spread across the globe.... a small masterpiece' - Thomas Laquer
In the mid-fourteenth century, a lethal plague struck the medieval world, causing unimaginable suffering and destruction. This terrifying pandemic – the Black Death – was unquestionably one of history’s defining episodes, yet a critical feature of its progress has often been the disease was not confined to Europe, but rather affected almost all of the known world, including the Near and Middle East, Byzantium, north Africa and Asia.
Tracing the pandemic’s course across the medieval globe, The Black Death contrasts the experiences of different peoples, including Christians, Muslims and Jews, charting this catastrophe’s transformative effects on diverse aspects of medieval life. And crucially, Asbridge demonstrates that the plague was often at its most destructive in the Islamic world, where it ultimately played a role in the collapse of the mighty Mamluk Empire.
The Black Death also brings the human drama of this calamitous era to life, evoking the terror and the turmoil that beset cities such as London, Cairo and Florence. Asbridge reconstructs the lives of the men, women and children who faced the Black Death – from ruling monarchs to peasant farmers – laying bare both the abject horror they endured and the courageous resolve they often demonstrated while striving to survive.
Uncovering a story that speaks to our own age, The Black Death highlights humankind’s capacity for compassion and resilience amidst a global crisis to explain how the medieval world confronted, and ultimately overcame, this shattering pandemic.
'An up-to-the-hour work of scholarship that is at the same time a page intimate stories of suffering, death and resilience are situated in large scale social, cultural and economic histories of the ravages of the Black Death as it spread across the globe.... a small masterpiece' - Thomas Laquer
In the mid-fourteenth century, a lethal plague struck the medieval world, causing unimaginable suffering and destruction. This terrifying pandemic – the Black Death – was unquestionably one of history’s defining episodes, yet a critical feature of its progress has often been the disease was not confined to Europe, but rather affected almost all of the known world, including the Near and Middle East, Byzantium, north Africa and Asia.
Tracing the pandemic’s course across the medieval globe, The Black Death contrasts the experiences of different peoples, including Christians, Muslims and Jews, charting this catastrophe’s transformative effects on diverse aspects of medieval life. And crucially, Asbridge demonstrates that the plague was often at its most destructive in the Islamic world, where it ultimately played a role in the collapse of the mighty Mamluk Empire.
The Black Death also brings the human drama of this calamitous era to life, evoking the terror and the turmoil that beset cities such as London, Cairo and Florence. Asbridge reconstructs the lives of the men, women and children who faced the Black Death – from ruling monarchs to peasant farmers – laying bare both the abject horror they endured and the courageous resolve they often demonstrated while striving to survive.
Uncovering a story that speaks to our own age, The Black Death highlights humankind’s capacity for compassion and resilience amidst a global crisis to explain how the medieval world confronted, and ultimately overcame, this shattering pandemic.
560 pages, Hardcover
First published May 26, 2026
About the author
Thomas Asbridge
14 books453 followersThomas Asbridge is an internationally renowned expert on the history of the Middle Ages and author of the critically acclaimed books 'The Crusades: The War for the Holy Land' and 'The Greatest Knight: The Remarkable Life of William Marshal, the Power Behind Five English Thrones'. HIs latest publication is 'The Black Death: A Global History'.
Thomas studied for a BA in Ancient and Medieval History at Cardiff University, and then gained his PhD in Medieval History at Royal Holloway, University of London. His is now Reader in Medieval History at Queen Mary, University of London.
Thomas studied for a BA in Ancient and Medieval History at Cardiff University, and then gained his PhD in Medieval History at Royal Holloway, University of London. His is now Reader in Medieval History at Queen Mary, University of London.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 99 reviews
July 26, 2026
Thomas Asbridge has produced a fascinating and deeply researched account of one of history’s deadliest pandemics. Rather than focusing solely on Europe, he broadens the story of the Black Death to include the Muslim world, North Africa, Asia, and the Byzantine Empire, showing that this was truly a global catastrophe. That wider perspective makes this book feel fresh and challenges many long-held assumptions about the plague.
Drawing on years of research and countless eyewitness accounts, Asbridge introduces readers to kings, merchants, scholars, and ordinary people whose lives were forever changed by the disease. Their stories bring the devastation into sharp focus while also illustrating how the plague reshaped religion, trade, politics, and society across multiple continents.
One of the aspects I am pleased Asbridge discussed is the comparisons with the COVID-19 pandemic. Reading about fear, misinformation, public responses, and the struggle to understand a rapidly spreading disease makes it impossible not to reflect on our own recent experiences. While separated by nearly seven centuries, the similarities in how societies reacted are both striking and thought-provoking.
This is an exceptionally detailed work, and at times the sheer amount of information can feel overwhelming. It is written for readers who enjoy immersing themselves in history and analysis rather than those looking for a quick overview. However, Asbridge’s engaging storytelling and obvious passion for the subject make the effort worthwhile.
The Black Death is an outstanding examination of a pandemic that changed the course of history. It is informative, balanced, and remarkably relevant in today’s world. Readers with an interest in medieval history, global history, or the lasting impact of disease on civilization will find much to admire. Highly recommended for those who feel ready for a guargantuan undertaking.
Kudos, Mr. Asbridge, for such a thorough and highly informative exploration of this deadly event.
Love/hate the review? An ever-growing collection of others appears at:
http://pecheyponderings.wordpress.com/
Drawing on years of research and countless eyewitness accounts, Asbridge introduces readers to kings, merchants, scholars, and ordinary people whose lives were forever changed by the disease. Their stories bring the devastation into sharp focus while also illustrating how the plague reshaped religion, trade, politics, and society across multiple continents.
One of the aspects I am pleased Asbridge discussed is the comparisons with the COVID-19 pandemic. Reading about fear, misinformation, public responses, and the struggle to understand a rapidly spreading disease makes it impossible not to reflect on our own recent experiences. While separated by nearly seven centuries, the similarities in how societies reacted are both striking and thought-provoking.
This is an exceptionally detailed work, and at times the sheer amount of information can feel overwhelming. It is written for readers who enjoy immersing themselves in history and analysis rather than those looking for a quick overview. However, Asbridge’s engaging storytelling and obvious passion for the subject make the effort worthwhile.
The Black Death is an outstanding examination of a pandemic that changed the course of history. It is informative, balanced, and remarkably relevant in today’s world. Readers with an interest in medieval history, global history, or the lasting impact of disease on civilization will find much to admire. Highly recommended for those who feel ready for a guargantuan undertaking.
Kudos, Mr. Asbridge, for such a thorough and highly informative exploration of this deadly event.
Love/hate the review? An ever-growing collection of others appears at:
http://pecheyponderings.wordpress.com/
May 19, 2026
To be honest the book felt a little… unfinished? Sort of as if the guy just collected all his research notes, collated them according to region and then edited it somewhat. What resulted was a book that goes from place to place recording roughly similar practices, with little analysis that felt at all gripping or original. Sometimes information was mentioned that literally has nothing to do with anything to do with the Black Death it felt as if the author just liked it and so in it goes. Tighter editing, stronger narrative through-line, clearly articulated argument, anything like that would have substantially strengthened this reading experience for me.
December 1, 2025
*Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance reader copy of this book in exchange for an honest review*.
The Black Death is a non-fiction book that explains the Black Death pandemic that occurred in the mid-fourteenth century. This book explains the science behind this pandemic but also the human cost that was paid. This book explains how monarchs were impacted by this plague but also local villagers. This author picks out certain people and explains their individual stories to show how the Black Death impacted them. There are many parallels from this pandemic to the COVID-19 pandemic. Before this book when I thought of the Black Death I would think of rats in London but this book shows how the pandemic affected the Middle East, Byzantium, North Africa and Asia.
This book does exactly what it says in will in the synopsis. This perfectly explains the outbreak of the Black Death, how it was transmitted and the bacteria that caused it. I learnt a lot from this and it gave me a much more diverse view of this pandemic. I didn’t realise the Black Death impacted Middle Eastern countries so much and it was really interesting to read how Christians and Muslims viewed this plague. This was a little dry though and I did have to push myself through this at times. That said, I am giving this 4 stars and I will be recommending this book to anyone who wants to learn more about the Black Death. I found the chapters on transmission to be the most interesting.
The Black Death is a non-fiction book that explains the Black Death pandemic that occurred in the mid-fourteenth century. This book explains the science behind this pandemic but also the human cost that was paid. This book explains how monarchs were impacted by this plague but also local villagers. This author picks out certain people and explains their individual stories to show how the Black Death impacted them. There are many parallels from this pandemic to the COVID-19 pandemic. Before this book when I thought of the Black Death I would think of rats in London but this book shows how the pandemic affected the Middle East, Byzantium, North Africa and Asia.
This book does exactly what it says in will in the synopsis. This perfectly explains the outbreak of the Black Death, how it was transmitted and the bacteria that caused it. I learnt a lot from this and it gave me a much more diverse view of this pandemic. I didn’t realise the Black Death impacted Middle Eastern countries so much and it was really interesting to read how Christians and Muslims viewed this plague. This was a little dry though and I did have to push myself through this at times. That said, I am giving this 4 stars and I will be recommending this book to anyone who wants to learn more about the Black Death. I found the chapters on transmission to be the most interesting.
August 24, 2026
Thomas Asbridge has produced a fresh, thorough new popular history of the Black Death. The book is neatly divided into four parts, beginning with the experience of the pandemic as recorded by contemporaries, the response to the pandemic, the research into and modern identification of the disease that caused it, and the world the Black Death left behind and how the disease may have left its mark on history.
Previous books on the Black Death might lead one to believe that the disease predominantly affected Britain, while of course making mild fun of the pope sitting between two fires in Avignon and not forgetting to mention that Petrarch was vaguely affected. Asbridge has written a truly global history of this disaster, making full use for the first time of many sources from the Islamic world. He also looks closely at sources from Italy, France, and east to where the pandemic likely started (not to forget Britain!). The accounts he has discovered are fascinating and deeply sad. Also extremely valuable is his analysis of the varying responses to the pandemic, some of which worked a lot better than others. The story of how Swiss doctor Alexandre Yersin identified the plague bacillus during an outbreak in Hong Kong and the recent positive identification of yersinia pestis DNA in remains from plague pits could be a book on its own, and includes a very complete look at the thoughts of doctors at the time of the plague as well, a medical history in its own.
A wonderful book, clearly written, deeply thoughtful. The extensive notes will be of value for further reading. 100% great reading for people interested in the period, in medical mysteries, and those curious about how the past reacted to pandemics and what we might learn from them.
Previous books on the Black Death might lead one to believe that the disease predominantly affected Britain, while of course making mild fun of the pope sitting between two fires in Avignon and not forgetting to mention that Petrarch was vaguely affected. Asbridge has written a truly global history of this disaster, making full use for the first time of many sources from the Islamic world. He also looks closely at sources from Italy, France, and east to where the pandemic likely started (not to forget Britain!). The accounts he has discovered are fascinating and deeply sad. Also extremely valuable is his analysis of the varying responses to the pandemic, some of which worked a lot better than others. The story of how Swiss doctor Alexandre Yersin identified the plague bacillus during an outbreak in Hong Kong and the recent positive identification of yersinia pestis DNA in remains from plague pits could be a book on its own, and includes a very complete look at the thoughts of doctors at the time of the plague as well, a medical history in its own.
A wonderful book, clearly written, deeply thoughtful. The extensive notes will be of value for further reading. 100% great reading for people interested in the period, in medical mysteries, and those curious about how the past reacted to pandemics and what we might learn from them.
September 3, 2026
I think this might be an instance of right book, wrong time. I really did want to read this, but I felt like I ran out of steam as I kept going with it. Something like The Black Death is right up my alley, but I just couldn't fully get into it.
So I did love the first part. This section of the book traces the path of the plague through continental Europe, the Middle East/North Africa and England. I have to give Asbridge credit here because he kept these chapters feeling quite fresh, even though he's essentially discussing the same thing over and over again. Focusing on a select group of individuals from these locations help give them a more personal feel and that detail makes it extra human, rather than just relying on statistics or a very broad overview.
Once Asbridge moves past this, though, my interest started to wane. I remember learning even in high school that yersinia pestis was the cause of the Black Death, but apparently that's been argued over until not that long ago. The discussion of dissenting views was interesting, even though it was brief. The story of how that bacterium was discovered was also very interesting. The book is rounded out discussing the post-plague world (which was still hit by plague time and again), and how societies reacted to the devastation.
I thought the book was heavily focused on Italy, which is not a particular area of interest for me so every time I had to go back there it was like 'not again...' but that's a personal preference. I haven't read much about the plague in the Middle East and North Africa, so I really liked those parts. Egypt gets the lions share, but there is some focus on Syria and Islamic Spain, as well as other areas to a much lesser degree. I understand that Asbridge has to use what sources are available, but more from Scandinavia and Russia would've been welcome. I'm actually surprised England wasn't more of a focus.
You're certainly going to walk away with an understanding of how devastating the Black Death was. Asbridge concludes the death rate averaged around 50% (with some areas being lower, and others even higher), and around 100 million people died. You'll see how individuals reacted to death on such a scale, how burial practices changed, how the plague was reflected in art. It's an inherently interesting topic, but something about this book just did not grab me like I was hoping.
So I did love the first part. This section of the book traces the path of the plague through continental Europe, the Middle East/North Africa and England. I have to give Asbridge credit here because he kept these chapters feeling quite fresh, even though he's essentially discussing the same thing over and over again. Focusing on a select group of individuals from these locations help give them a more personal feel and that detail makes it extra human, rather than just relying on statistics or a very broad overview.
Once Asbridge moves past this, though, my interest started to wane. I remember learning even in high school that yersinia pestis was the cause of the Black Death, but apparently that's been argued over until not that long ago. The discussion of dissenting views was interesting, even though it was brief. The story of how that bacterium was discovered was also very interesting. The book is rounded out discussing the post-plague world (which was still hit by plague time and again), and how societies reacted to the devastation.
I thought the book was heavily focused on Italy, which is not a particular area of interest for me so every time I had to go back there it was like 'not again...' but that's a personal preference. I haven't read much about the plague in the Middle East and North Africa, so I really liked those parts. Egypt gets the lions share, but there is some focus on Syria and Islamic Spain, as well as other areas to a much lesser degree. I understand that Asbridge has to use what sources are available, but more from Scandinavia and Russia would've been welcome. I'm actually surprised England wasn't more of a focus.
You're certainly going to walk away with an understanding of how devastating the Black Death was. Asbridge concludes the death rate averaged around 50% (with some areas being lower, and others even higher), and around 100 million people died. You'll see how individuals reacted to death on such a scale, how burial practices changed, how the plague was reflected in art. It's an inherently interesting topic, but something about this book just did not grab me like I was hoping.
August 16, 2026
Denk terug aan een jaar of acht geleden, vóór corona, en maak voor jezelf een lijstje van de honderd mensen in je omgeving waar je het meest om geeft. Gezin, uitgebreide familie, vrienden, collega's, kennissen, noem maar op. Honderd.
Van die honderd streep je twee willekeurige namen door. Statistisch gezien, zijn die ondertussen dood. Er is toen 2% (misschien 2,5%) van de mensheid aan corona overleden.
Dat is misschien enigszins schokkend, dat die ineens zonder verwittiging vooraf dood zijn.
Vervolgens streep je nog een aantal door. Niet nog eens twee. Ook geen vijf. Zelfs geen tien. Nee nee.
Je streept er achtenveertig door. Zodat uiteindelijk nog de helft overblijft. Dat is min of meer het aantal dat een kleine zevenhonderd jaar geleden de Zwarte Dood heeft overleefd - en het aantal dat dat geluk niet had.
Dit boek gaat over de hallucinante geschiedenis van de Zwarte Dood, de pest die van 1347 tot 1353 huishield in een groot stuk van de toendertijd bekende wereld, vooral het Midden-Oosten en Europa.
Ik ben geen complete leek wat dit onderwerp aangaat, maar het is de eerste keer dat ik er een volledig boek over gelezen heb. Asbridge gaat in De Zwarte Dood - Een Wereldgeschiedenis in op de verspreiding van de pest, wat de rechtstreekse reacties van de mensen toen erop waren om oplossingen te vinden, de biologische achtergrond van de pest, en op de langetermijneffecten die al dat dood en verderf hebben teweeggebracht.
Voor zover ik kan beoordelen, is het in elk geval heel alomvattend. De dingen waarvan ik vond dat ze erin moesten komen - het Issyk Kulmeer, waar ons woord 'quarantaine' vandaan komt, de danse macabre, noem maar op - komen ook aan bod. Het lijkt me dus zeker een volledig boek, waarin ook echt alles belicht wordt dat belicht moet worden. En er valt veel te vertellen.
Soms had het misschien net iets korter gekund. Het boek telt 500 bladzijdes en soms zit er iets te veel herhaling in. Door het wat beknopter te maken, had er misschien wel een klein tiende geschrapt kunnen worden. Maar verder ben ik vol lof. Of het nu gaat over het belang dat de dood na de pest in de samenleving won, over de pestbacillen zelf en over de razendsnelle verspreiding van de ziekte in Europa, het zit erin. Bovendien wist ik veel minder over hoe ze heeft huisgehouden in de Arabisch-islamitische wereld, en ook daar wordt diep op ingegaan. Eerst vroeg ik me nog af waarom er niks gezegd werd over Oost-Azië, maar ook dat wordt later verklaard.
Er zitten achteraan ook nog een paar tientallen bladzijdes met eindnoten, waaronder sommige die best wel wat extra informatie bevatten. Het was me niet helemaal duidelijk waarom die niet in de lopende tekst stond, want dat had evengoed daar gezegd kunnen worden.
De vertaling is van Conny Sykora. Die is op zich heel goed. Het is wel jammer dat de redactie daarna iets te veel typfouten heeft laten staan om het écht goed werk te noemen. Maar het Nederlands leest vlot, de namen en termen lijken me goed vertaald. Het enige waar ik me vragen bij stel, zijn de toevoegingen die de vertaler heeft geplaatst tussen vierkante haken. Soms is dat logisch, als er een of ander typisch Brits aspect wordt benoemd dat in de Engelse editie overduidelijk is maar voor ons niet, maar soms wordt er ook extra informatie gegeven bij zaken die Engelstalige lezers volgens mij ook niet zomaar gaan weten. Dat was dus wat vreemd - zeker als het dan ook nog om toevoegingen gaat die elders wel gewoon door Asbridge zelf vermeld worden.
Maar oké, dat is wat vreemd, ik snap de gedachte erachter niet, maar het werkt ook niet storend.
De auteur heeft aandacht voor alle lagen van de samenleving, van koningen en sultana's tot kooplieden en boerinnen. Er worden heel veel mensen expliciet bij naam genoemd en er wordt gezegd hoe zij te maken kregen met de Zwarte Dood, op puur persoonlijk vlak (sterftes), economisch (erfenissen, testamenten, handelsproblemen), politiek en religieus (onrust, opstand, nieuwe ideeën) enzovoorts. Er wordt ook veel aandacht besteed aan de lange periode na de Zwarte Dood. Ik wist wel dat de pest daarna nog was teruggekeerd... maar niet dat dat gedurende anderhalve eeuw met een cyclus was die zich om de tien à vijftien jaar herhaalde, waarbij nog eens miljoenen mensen zijn overleden.
Het zal wel niet verrassen als er ook wordt vergeleken met corona, waarbij we ons nu al ongerust de vraag kunnen stellen of dat dan ook over een paar jaar terugkomt. De gelijkenissen zijn verder dikwijls erg treffend, al is dat - hopelijk - puur toeval. Die vergelijking had van mij zelfs nog iets meer aan bod mogen komen dan nu, want ze staat enkel helemaal op het einde, in de conclusie.
Wat ik wel wat minder vond aan het verhaal, zijn alle citaten die erin staan, en dan vaak nog licht aangepast met allerlei haakjes eromheen. Dat maakte dat de tekst wat stroever las dan had gekund. Asbridge had wel wat meer mogen parafraseren zodat je niet de hele tijd overal van die lastige opmaak krijgt, en ook gewoon zodat zijn eigen stem er wat meer doorkwam.
Maar over het algemeen zou ik zeggen: dikke aanrader! Heel interessant!
Van die honderd streep je twee willekeurige namen door. Statistisch gezien, zijn die ondertussen dood. Er is toen 2% (misschien 2,5%) van de mensheid aan corona overleden.
Dat is misschien enigszins schokkend, dat die ineens zonder verwittiging vooraf dood zijn.
Vervolgens streep je nog een aantal door. Niet nog eens twee. Ook geen vijf. Zelfs geen tien. Nee nee.
Je streept er achtenveertig door. Zodat uiteindelijk nog de helft overblijft. Dat is min of meer het aantal dat een kleine zevenhonderd jaar geleden de Zwarte Dood heeft overleefd - en het aantal dat dat geluk niet had.
Dit boek gaat over de hallucinante geschiedenis van de Zwarte Dood, de pest die van 1347 tot 1353 huishield in een groot stuk van de toendertijd bekende wereld, vooral het Midden-Oosten en Europa.
Ik ben geen complete leek wat dit onderwerp aangaat, maar het is de eerste keer dat ik er een volledig boek over gelezen heb. Asbridge gaat in De Zwarte Dood - Een Wereldgeschiedenis in op de verspreiding van de pest, wat de rechtstreekse reacties van de mensen toen erop waren om oplossingen te vinden, de biologische achtergrond van de pest, en op de langetermijneffecten die al dat dood en verderf hebben teweeggebracht.
Voor zover ik kan beoordelen, is het in elk geval heel alomvattend. De dingen waarvan ik vond dat ze erin moesten komen - het Issyk Kulmeer, waar ons woord 'quarantaine' vandaan komt, de danse macabre, noem maar op - komen ook aan bod. Het lijkt me dus zeker een volledig boek, waarin ook echt alles belicht wordt dat belicht moet worden. En er valt veel te vertellen.
Soms had het misschien net iets korter gekund. Het boek telt 500 bladzijdes en soms zit er iets te veel herhaling in. Door het wat beknopter te maken, had er misschien wel een klein tiende geschrapt kunnen worden. Maar verder ben ik vol lof. Of het nu gaat over het belang dat de dood na de pest in de samenleving won, over de pestbacillen zelf en over de razendsnelle verspreiding van de ziekte in Europa, het zit erin. Bovendien wist ik veel minder over hoe ze heeft huisgehouden in de Arabisch-islamitische wereld, en ook daar wordt diep op ingegaan. Eerst vroeg ik me nog af waarom er niks gezegd werd over Oost-Azië, maar ook dat wordt later verklaard.
Er zitten achteraan ook nog een paar tientallen bladzijdes met eindnoten, waaronder sommige die best wel wat extra informatie bevatten. Het was me niet helemaal duidelijk waarom die niet in de lopende tekst stond, want dat had evengoed daar gezegd kunnen worden.
De vertaling is van Conny Sykora. Die is op zich heel goed. Het is wel jammer dat de redactie daarna iets te veel typfouten heeft laten staan om het écht goed werk te noemen. Maar het Nederlands leest vlot, de namen en termen lijken me goed vertaald. Het enige waar ik me vragen bij stel, zijn de toevoegingen die de vertaler heeft geplaatst tussen vierkante haken. Soms is dat logisch, als er een of ander typisch Brits aspect wordt benoemd dat in de Engelse editie overduidelijk is maar voor ons niet, maar soms wordt er ook extra informatie gegeven bij zaken die Engelstalige lezers volgens mij ook niet zomaar gaan weten. Dat was dus wat vreemd - zeker als het dan ook nog om toevoegingen gaat die elders wel gewoon door Asbridge zelf vermeld worden.
Maar oké, dat is wat vreemd, ik snap de gedachte erachter niet, maar het werkt ook niet storend.
De auteur heeft aandacht voor alle lagen van de samenleving, van koningen en sultana's tot kooplieden en boerinnen. Er worden heel veel mensen expliciet bij naam genoemd en er wordt gezegd hoe zij te maken kregen met de Zwarte Dood, op puur persoonlijk vlak (sterftes), economisch (erfenissen, testamenten, handelsproblemen), politiek en religieus (onrust, opstand, nieuwe ideeën) enzovoorts. Er wordt ook veel aandacht besteed aan de lange periode na de Zwarte Dood. Ik wist wel dat de pest daarna nog was teruggekeerd... maar niet dat dat gedurende anderhalve eeuw met een cyclus was die zich om de tien à vijftien jaar herhaalde, waarbij nog eens miljoenen mensen zijn overleden.
Het zal wel niet verrassen als er ook wordt vergeleken met corona, waarbij we ons nu al ongerust de vraag kunnen stellen of dat dan ook over een paar jaar terugkomt. De gelijkenissen zijn verder dikwijls erg treffend, al is dat - hopelijk - puur toeval. Die vergelijking had van mij zelfs nog iets meer aan bod mogen komen dan nu, want ze staat enkel helemaal op het einde, in de conclusie.
Wat ik wel wat minder vond aan het verhaal, zijn alle citaten die erin staan, en dan vaak nog licht aangepast met allerlei haakjes eromheen. Dat maakte dat de tekst wat stroever las dan had gekund. Asbridge had wel wat meer mogen parafraseren zodat je niet de hele tijd overal van die lastige opmaak krijgt, en ook gewoon zodat zijn eigen stem er wat meer doorkwam.
Maar over het algemeen zou ik zeggen: dikke aanrader! Heel interessant!
July 15, 2026
When I was in high school and a history major at a university, I learned about The Black Death. In my classes we focused on Europe and learned it came from rats on ships infected by this catastrophic disease. We also learned what it did to people. That was it.
Thomas Asbridge dove into every aspect of The Black Death. From the beginning to how the world recovered from the carnage and how it impacted society. It was nice to see the perspective of the Middle East and North Africa instead of just Europe as I had learned. One anecdote Asbridge wrote about was in Egypt. The Jews, Muslims, and Christians got together hoping praying together would put an end to the plague, but it only led to more people getting sick and dying from this disease. That was another part I found captivating was all the different anecdotes Asbridge provided. I also enjoyed Asbridge discussing how the world changed after The Black Death. I remember learning a lot of people died, and that was it. Asbridge continued by explaining how society changed, and I found the part about the Protestant Reformation being caused by The Black Death to be interesting because that was something I had never heard before.
I learned so much from this book and I never found myself bored. I wanted to discover more every night because I read before I go to sleep. I found this book to just be fascinating. If you would like to learn more about The Black Death, grab a copy of Thomas Asbridge's book because you will not be disappointed at all.
Thomas Asbridge dove into every aspect of The Black Death. From the beginning to how the world recovered from the carnage and how it impacted society. It was nice to see the perspective of the Middle East and North Africa instead of just Europe as I had learned. One anecdote Asbridge wrote about was in Egypt. The Jews, Muslims, and Christians got together hoping praying together would put an end to the plague, but it only led to more people getting sick and dying from this disease. That was another part I found captivating was all the different anecdotes Asbridge provided. I also enjoyed Asbridge discussing how the world changed after The Black Death. I remember learning a lot of people died, and that was it. Asbridge continued by explaining how society changed, and I found the part about the Protestant Reformation being caused by The Black Death to be interesting because that was something I had never heard before.
I learned so much from this book and I never found myself bored. I wanted to discover more every night because I read before I go to sleep. I found this book to just be fascinating. If you would like to learn more about The Black Death, grab a copy of Thomas Asbridge's book because you will not be disappointed at all.
October 7, 2026
De sterftecijfers blijven verbazen. Halfweg de 14de eeuw viel zowat de helft van onze gekende (westerse) wereld ten prooi aan de zwarte dood, de builenpest. De stoet overlijdens in het eerste deel van dit boek is hallucinant.
Thomas Asbridge brengt de ongeziene omvang van deze pandemie systematisch in kaart en poogt daarbij ook de wereld wat open te trekken. Al zijn er vaak weinig historische bronnen voorhanden, hij doet lovenswaardige pogingen om ook buiten de grenzen van Europa te kijken.
Na het schetsen van de omvang van de ramp volgen hoofdstukken over de onmiddellijke gevolgen ervan, over de zoektocht naar een verklaring voor de ziekte en over de latere impact van de grote pest op politiek, religieus en cultureel vlak. De wetenschappelijke twisten over wat de pest eigenlijk veroorzaakte, levert daarbij het boeiendste deel op. De delen over de langetermijngevolgen zijn duidelijk Asbridge's dada, maar lijken me eerder speculatief.
Het is allemaal erg uitgebreid en Asbridge valt wel eens in herhaling. Ook van de goede voornemens om wat minder Angelsaksisch te denken had ik nét iets meer verwacht. Toch is dit een boeiend boek. Het werd deels geschreven tijdens de COVID-epidemie, wat onvermijdelijk echo’s oproept. Een waarschuwing, ook al is er qua omvang van de ramp geen vergelijk mogelijk. Hoed af ook voor de boodschap van hoop waarmee Asbridge dit boek besluit.
PS: Terwijl ik het laatste hoofdstuk van het boek uitlees, verschijnt er een nieuwsbericht over een nieuwe pestdode in Rusland.
Thomas Asbridge brengt de ongeziene omvang van deze pandemie systematisch in kaart en poogt daarbij ook de wereld wat open te trekken. Al zijn er vaak weinig historische bronnen voorhanden, hij doet lovenswaardige pogingen om ook buiten de grenzen van Europa te kijken.
Na het schetsen van de omvang van de ramp volgen hoofdstukken over de onmiddellijke gevolgen ervan, over de zoektocht naar een verklaring voor de ziekte en over de latere impact van de grote pest op politiek, religieus en cultureel vlak. De wetenschappelijke twisten over wat de pest eigenlijk veroorzaakte, levert daarbij het boeiendste deel op. De delen over de langetermijngevolgen zijn duidelijk Asbridge's dada, maar lijken me eerder speculatief.
Het is allemaal erg uitgebreid en Asbridge valt wel eens in herhaling. Ook van de goede voornemens om wat minder Angelsaksisch te denken had ik nét iets meer verwacht. Toch is dit een boeiend boek. Het werd deels geschreven tijdens de COVID-epidemie, wat onvermijdelijk echo’s oproept. Een waarschuwing, ook al is er qua omvang van de ramp geen vergelijk mogelijk. Hoed af ook voor de boodschap van hoop waarmee Asbridge dit boek besluit.
PS: Terwijl ik het laatste hoofdstuk van het boek uitlees, verschijnt er een nieuwsbericht over een nieuwe pestdode in Rusland.
September 2, 2026
quick list of interesting things i learned from this book:
* 3 plague pandemics throughout history - plague of Justinian, the Black Death + subsequent outbreaks, the late 19th to mid 20th centuries
* the classical model (the traditional theory that rat-and-flea transmission route is responsible for the spread of the plague) is incomplete! this is because transmission was far too rapid and widespread for rats and fleas to be the sole source of infection
* north africa and west asia suffered particularly heavy losses to the plague due to the belief that the plague was divine in nature and thus, being divine, it could not be contagious
* the word quarantine derives from the italian phrase “quaranta giorni” and describes the measures taken in 1377 by the italian republic of ragusa during the second plague pandemic to prevent the spread of the plague by isolating merchants, goods and ships arriving from plague stricken regions for a period of 30 days
* in the aftermath of the black death, climate change (little ice age), population stagnation, the rise of the ottomans, shifting trade routes, and diminishing markets (resulting in supplemental rise in exports, fueling a trade deficit coupled with a shortage in European silver) threatened disaster and recession for the european economy. the need for alternative routes to asia (to break the mamluk stranglehold) and reservoirs of natural resources prompted europeans to turn to exploration, transforming global balance of power, supplanting the once dominant mediterranean and positioning europe as the leading mercantile powers. and we all know what happens next 🧍🏾♀️
* post Black Death iconography includes: the 3 living and the 3 dead, personification of death, the dance of death, transi-tombs, and momento mori
* 3 plague pandemics throughout history - plague of Justinian, the Black Death + subsequent outbreaks, the late 19th to mid 20th centuries
* the classical model (the traditional theory that rat-and-flea transmission route is responsible for the spread of the plague) is incomplete! this is because transmission was far too rapid and widespread for rats and fleas to be the sole source of infection
* north africa and west asia suffered particularly heavy losses to the plague due to the belief that the plague was divine in nature and thus, being divine, it could not be contagious
* the word quarantine derives from the italian phrase “quaranta giorni” and describes the measures taken in 1377 by the italian republic of ragusa during the second plague pandemic to prevent the spread of the plague by isolating merchants, goods and ships arriving from plague stricken regions for a period of 30 days
* in the aftermath of the black death, climate change (little ice age), population stagnation, the rise of the ottomans, shifting trade routes, and diminishing markets (resulting in supplemental rise in exports, fueling a trade deficit coupled with a shortage in European silver) threatened disaster and recession for the european economy. the need for alternative routes to asia (to break the mamluk stranglehold) and reservoirs of natural resources prompted europeans to turn to exploration, transforming global balance of power, supplanting the once dominant mediterranean and positioning europe as the leading mercantile powers. and we all know what happens next 🧍🏾♀️
* post Black Death iconography includes: the 3 living and the 3 dead, personification of death, the dance of death, transi-tombs, and momento mori
July 23, 2026
As someone with a background in the history of the Black Death, I have to admit that I am almost incapable of walking past a new book on the subject without picking it up. The Black Death remains one of those historical events that never seems to lose its ability to fascinate me. Even after reading countless books and articles about Yersinia pestis, the pandemic continues to reveal new layers of complexity, whether through archaeological discoveries, advances in ancient DNA analysis, or fresh interpretations of long-established sources. Thomas Asbridge's The Black Death: A Global History of Humanity's Most Devastating Pandemic is another welcome addition to this growing body of scholarship, even if it ultimately left me wanting something a little more distinctive.
The book sets itself an ambitious goal. Rather than focusing solely on Europe, Asbridge attempts to reconstruct the Black Death as a genuinely global catastrophe, tracing its origins, spread, and consequences across Asia, the Middle East, North Africa, and Europe. This wider geographical perspective is one of the book's greatest strengths. Although the European experience still dominates much of the public imagination, the pandemic was never an exclusively European disaster, and Asbridge repeatedly reminds the reader that its history cannot be understood through a western lens alone.
The opening chapters explore the origins of Yersinia pestis, discussing the bacterium itself, its ecological reservoirs, and the debates surrounding where and how the fourteenth-century pandemic first emerged. These sections provide a concise overview of current scientific understanding without becoming overly technical. Readers unfamiliar with plague biology will find enough explanation to understand why this disease proved so devastating, while those already familiar with the subject will appreciate that Asbridge avoids sensationalising the science.
From there, the narrative follows the spread of the pandemic through interconnected trade networks, examining the roles of the Silk Roads, the Mongol Empire, maritime commerce, and regional political structures. The discussion of transmission is particularly effective because it continually reinforces just how interconnected the medieval world actually was. Rather than portraying isolated outbreaks, Asbridge presents the Black Death as the consequence of a deeply connected Afro-Eurasian world where commerce, diplomacy, pilgrimage, and warfare all contributed to the movement of disease.
One aspect I particularly appreciated was the increased attention given to the Middle East. For many years, English-language histories of the Black Death leaned heavily toward European documentary evidence simply because those sources were more readily accessible to western historians. Here, Asbridge makes excellent use of Arabic chronicles and more recent scholarship that has re-examined Middle Eastern evidence. While this is not entirely new territory academically, it represents an important corrective for general readers and helps produce a far more balanced picture of the pandemic's reach.
The book also examines the social, religious, political, and economic consequences of the plague. Asbridge discusses changing labour markets, demographic collapse, shifting power structures, religious interpretations of the catastrophe, and the psychological impact of living through repeated waves of mortality. None of these topics will surprise anyone already familiar with plague historiography, but they are presented clearly and logically. His writing remains accessible without sacrificing scholarly credibility, making the book approachable for newcomers while remaining grounded in historical evidence.
One thing I always enjoy about reading new works on the Black Death is being reminded that this is still an active field of research. It is remarkable that nearly seven centuries after the pandemic, we continue to uncover new evidence that reshapes our understanding. Ancient DNA has revolutionised the study of plague over the past two decades, while archaeological discoveries continue to challenge long-held assumptions. Even beyond medieval history, research has suggested fascinating long-term biological consequences. For example, there is evidence that some descendants of Black Death survivors inherited genetic variations that may also provide increased resistance to HIV infection. Connections like these demonstrate that the legacy of the pandemic extends far beyond medieval Europe and continues to influence scientific research today.
Ironically, this is also where my main criticism of Asbridge's book lies. Although he acknowledges many of these ongoing developments, the book itself is less focused on presenting genuinely new discoveries than I initially expected. Instead, it serves as a carefully constructed synthesis of existing scholarship, drawing primarily from archival evidence while incorporating more recent reassessments of Middle Eastern sources. There is absolutely value in this approach, particularly for readers seeking an authoritative overview, but as someone who has spent years reading about the Black Death, I rarely encountered information that felt genuinely fresh.
That familiarity isn't necessarily a flaw in the scholarship. In fact, the book demonstrates impressive command of the existing literature. My disappointment stems more from the scope than the execution. By attempting to tell the story of the entire pandemic across multiple continents, Asbridge inevitably sacrifices depth for breadth. Entire regions, debates, and historiographical questions receive relatively brief treatment because the narrative has so much ground to cover.
Personally, I would have enjoyed a more narrowly focused study. Some of the most engaging recent works in plague history have concentrated on a single region, community, or historical problem, allowing the author to explore their subject in much greater depth. A book devoted entirely to the Middle Eastern experience, for example, would have filled a relatively uncommon niche within the field and perhaps offered more original insights. Instead, The Black Death: A Global History of Humanity's Most Devastating Pandemic functions as exactly what its title promises: a broad survey of a global catastrophe rather than a deep dive into one particular aspect of it.
That said, it remains a highly readable and carefully researched work. Asbridge writes with clarity and confidence, successfully balancing academic rigour with an engaging narrative style. The book never feels dry despite its reliance on documentary evidence, and its commitment to presenting the pandemic within a truly global framework makes it a worthwhile contribution to popular history.
Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book, even if it did not quite surprise me. For readers approaching the Black Death for the first time, it offers an excellent introduction that incorporates both traditional scholarship and more recent perspectives beyond Europe. For those already immersed in plague studies, there may be fewer revelations, but there is still considerable value in seeing the evidence brought together so effectively. If nothing else, Asbridge reinforces an important truth about the Black Death: despite centuries of scholarship, this pandemic remains far from a closed chapter, and our understanding continues to evolve with every new discovery.
The book sets itself an ambitious goal. Rather than focusing solely on Europe, Asbridge attempts to reconstruct the Black Death as a genuinely global catastrophe, tracing its origins, spread, and consequences across Asia, the Middle East, North Africa, and Europe. This wider geographical perspective is one of the book's greatest strengths. Although the European experience still dominates much of the public imagination, the pandemic was never an exclusively European disaster, and Asbridge repeatedly reminds the reader that its history cannot be understood through a western lens alone.
The opening chapters explore the origins of Yersinia pestis, discussing the bacterium itself, its ecological reservoirs, and the debates surrounding where and how the fourteenth-century pandemic first emerged. These sections provide a concise overview of current scientific understanding without becoming overly technical. Readers unfamiliar with plague biology will find enough explanation to understand why this disease proved so devastating, while those already familiar with the subject will appreciate that Asbridge avoids sensationalising the science.
From there, the narrative follows the spread of the pandemic through interconnected trade networks, examining the roles of the Silk Roads, the Mongol Empire, maritime commerce, and regional political structures. The discussion of transmission is particularly effective because it continually reinforces just how interconnected the medieval world actually was. Rather than portraying isolated outbreaks, Asbridge presents the Black Death as the consequence of a deeply connected Afro-Eurasian world where commerce, diplomacy, pilgrimage, and warfare all contributed to the movement of disease.
One aspect I particularly appreciated was the increased attention given to the Middle East. For many years, English-language histories of the Black Death leaned heavily toward European documentary evidence simply because those sources were more readily accessible to western historians. Here, Asbridge makes excellent use of Arabic chronicles and more recent scholarship that has re-examined Middle Eastern evidence. While this is not entirely new territory academically, it represents an important corrective for general readers and helps produce a far more balanced picture of the pandemic's reach.
The book also examines the social, religious, political, and economic consequences of the plague. Asbridge discusses changing labour markets, demographic collapse, shifting power structures, religious interpretations of the catastrophe, and the psychological impact of living through repeated waves of mortality. None of these topics will surprise anyone already familiar with plague historiography, but they are presented clearly and logically. His writing remains accessible without sacrificing scholarly credibility, making the book approachable for newcomers while remaining grounded in historical evidence.
One thing I always enjoy about reading new works on the Black Death is being reminded that this is still an active field of research. It is remarkable that nearly seven centuries after the pandemic, we continue to uncover new evidence that reshapes our understanding. Ancient DNA has revolutionised the study of plague over the past two decades, while archaeological discoveries continue to challenge long-held assumptions. Even beyond medieval history, research has suggested fascinating long-term biological consequences. For example, there is evidence that some descendants of Black Death survivors inherited genetic variations that may also provide increased resistance to HIV infection. Connections like these demonstrate that the legacy of the pandemic extends far beyond medieval Europe and continues to influence scientific research today.
Ironically, this is also where my main criticism of Asbridge's book lies. Although he acknowledges many of these ongoing developments, the book itself is less focused on presenting genuinely new discoveries than I initially expected. Instead, it serves as a carefully constructed synthesis of existing scholarship, drawing primarily from archival evidence while incorporating more recent reassessments of Middle Eastern sources. There is absolutely value in this approach, particularly for readers seeking an authoritative overview, but as someone who has spent years reading about the Black Death, I rarely encountered information that felt genuinely fresh.
That familiarity isn't necessarily a flaw in the scholarship. In fact, the book demonstrates impressive command of the existing literature. My disappointment stems more from the scope than the execution. By attempting to tell the story of the entire pandemic across multiple continents, Asbridge inevitably sacrifices depth for breadth. Entire regions, debates, and historiographical questions receive relatively brief treatment because the narrative has so much ground to cover.
Personally, I would have enjoyed a more narrowly focused study. Some of the most engaging recent works in plague history have concentrated on a single region, community, or historical problem, allowing the author to explore their subject in much greater depth. A book devoted entirely to the Middle Eastern experience, for example, would have filled a relatively uncommon niche within the field and perhaps offered more original insights. Instead, The Black Death: A Global History of Humanity's Most Devastating Pandemic functions as exactly what its title promises: a broad survey of a global catastrophe rather than a deep dive into one particular aspect of it.
That said, it remains a highly readable and carefully researched work. Asbridge writes with clarity and confidence, successfully balancing academic rigour with an engaging narrative style. The book never feels dry despite its reliance on documentary evidence, and its commitment to presenting the pandemic within a truly global framework makes it a worthwhile contribution to popular history.
Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book, even if it did not quite surprise me. For readers approaching the Black Death for the first time, it offers an excellent introduction that incorporates both traditional scholarship and more recent perspectives beyond Europe. For those already immersed in plague studies, there may be fewer revelations, but there is still considerable value in seeing the evidence brought together so effectively. If nothing else, Asbridge reinforces an important truth about the Black Death: despite centuries of scholarship, this pandemic remains far from a closed chapter, and our understanding continues to evolve with every new discovery.
August 18, 2026
The ending of this one was quite good how the author ties it all in to present day relevance. I would recommend for sure.
July 31, 2026
This is a meticulously researched and fantastically written book about Plague/The Black Death that wiped out close to half of civilization and how it took years to fully recover from the devastation of it all [given the reoccurrences that popped up for years after as well as economic issues as well].
Deeply detailed [some I could have done without whilst eating my supper LOL ] with so. much. information. [this book is absolutely worthy of a re-read given all the information between its pages; I am sure that I will learn more with each reread ], as well as comparisons to our own recent experience with a plague of our own in Covid-19 [this was a a tough part of the book to read given the current atmosphere STILL around C19 and the current grilling of Dr. Fauci, the very man who saved us from more deaths; I just had to shake my head in disbelief over the fact that we are STILL NOT LEARNING from the far past as well as rather current history ], this read is indeed a daunting task but if you love history, science, and well, plague [learning about it that is; I doubt ANYONE would love to actually HAVE plague ], then this book is very much worth the read.
Absolutely brilliant.
Thank you to NetGalley, Thomas Asbridge. and Random House for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Deeply detailed [some I could have done without whilst eating my supper LOL ] with so. much. information. [this book is absolutely worthy of a re-read given all the information between its pages; I am sure that I will learn more with each reread ], as well as comparisons to our own recent experience with a plague of our own in Covid-19 [this was a a tough part of the book to read given the current atmosphere STILL around C19 and the current grilling of Dr. Fauci, the very man who saved us from more deaths; I just had to shake my head in disbelief over the fact that we are STILL NOT LEARNING from the far past as well as rather current history ], this read is indeed a daunting task but if you love history, science, and well, plague [learning about it that is; I doubt ANYONE would love to actually HAVE plague ], then this book is very much worth the read.
Absolutely brilliant.
Thank you to NetGalley, Thomas Asbridge. and Random House for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.
October 2, 2026
Very interesting read on the greatest disaster humanity has ever faced. My biggest critique is that it was a bit Eurocentric in terms of analyzing the affects of the pandemic in the 14th century. While some analysis was made on the Middle East and North Africa's encounter with the Black Death, it's overshadowed by the European perspective, despite the Middle East and North Africa arguably being hit worse. It was also intriguing to learn about the social, political and religious consequences in the aftermath of the pandemic due to the sheer damage the disease did to the global population at the time.
September 13, 2026
A real snoozer… I mean, find someone who looks at you the way Asbridge looks at a town’s last-will records, but compelling reading it does not make. The whole book is massively redundant—after explaining in the introduction how THIS work will look at the breadth and variety of black plague experiences around the world, he then endlessly repeats extremely similar reports. I thought I had only a passing, popcultural understanding of the plague, and yet this book didn’t teach me anything new or insightful about it.
July 26, 2026
An exceptional deep dive into the Black Death, approached conscientiously and with respect.
September 23, 2026
Many of the personal accounts were new to me. A good read.
September 23, 2026
Solid overall narrative of the Black Death.
September 3, 2026
The author's tendency to repeat himself ad nauseum notwithstanding -- I think one particular ibn Khaldun citation appears no fewer than five times -- and his slightly jumbled and haphazard jumping from place to place, this was an interesting and enjoyable read and exactly what I was looking for on this topic. I really enjoyed his focus on the human element of the plague and his use of historical documentary evidence to produce a good sense of the mood of the time.
June 29, 2026
The Black Death. It's a subject we come back to time and time again, even before COVID rocked the world and prompted numerous comparisons. It is a disease some believe to have been totally eradicated. Rather, it became something that could be managed with modern medicine. Small outbreaks appear all the time, as mentioned in the third section of the book. And, if one wishes, there was an episode of House MD where the diagnosis was the bubonic version of the Plague. Similarly in NCIS, one of the characters was infected with the pneumonic version. Both survived with prompt treatment (but oddly no one else was infected by interacting with them before it was diagnosed).
In many ways the Black Death lead to a jump in understanding of disease, though they still were not quite sure how to handle it or pandemics like it for hundreds of years. The Black Death was unprecedented in all meanings of the word. The doctors and nurses and other medical people of the time did what they could with what they had. So, too, did the layman. But that was then and this is now. It's enough to frustrate a person when someone in the modern day downplays modern pandemics and claims we don't actually know how to stop the spread as if they're people from the 14th century and believe we haven't advanced medically quite a bit since then.
The Black Death has been written about so much that a reader can be forgiven for sighing and going "another one?" although I was intrigued when I saw this one because I wondered if something new had been discovered before I read the description and when I did read it, I was even more intrigued that the author came at the subject via the human experience and reaction rather than a dry rehash of the disease's movement. The Black Death is like Jack the Ripper, there are so many people writing about it. But at least in the case of the Black Death, we have the actual identity of the killer.
What I enjoy about this book is it isn't a rehash of the spread of the disease but rather a look at the response to it on an emotional and societal level. This is often missing from other books and research. It is important to know how people felt at the time, in order for later pandemics to be manageable on an emotional level. Panic and depression can be just as damaging.
As the author writes, we see that some went to incredible extremes to stop the spread. Or some turned to theft. Both were seen in the pogroms against the Jews. This is part of the Black Death knowledge that is often missing from peoples' minds. The Jews were cast as the villains of the Black Death, with accusations of poisoning water supplies. So many Jews were murdered while others were put through criminal trials which just almost always ended in being executed.
Jewish ideals such as Pikuach Nefesh, which asserts that health is most important of all. This ideal is what is given as a reason to not fast during fasting holidays if the Jew in question is ill or requires food on a constant basis during the day (often related to things like diabetes). And then there's the coincidence of handwashing being a part of ritual observance. Even just rinsing your hands can help remove the germs on your hands. (Eventually, of course, handwashing was suggested throughout the 'known world' during successive plague resurgences. They may not have known exactly why that helped, but at least they did it. Same with learning to social distance.)
The attacks on Jews were not solely motivated by the conspiracy of poisoning the wells, of course. But there was a monetary aspect as well. As the writer notes, the Pope of the time, Clement VI, himself hit upon the reason for Christians to be attacking Jews: they wanted the money Jews had or they wanted to completely destroy the evidence of loans that the Jews had to wipe away the debt that Gentiles had accrued. Jews at that time were moneylenders, bankers. So in a way, Jews couldn't win.
I enjoyed the writing quite a bit and would certainly suggest that anyone interested more in the human experience of the plague read this book. And overall it reminds us that we can't really do anything but feel sympathy for those who lived through the Black Death. Nor can we mock the medical response to it as they did the best they could with what they had and knew at the time.
I will admit I kept waiting for the Plague Doctors to come up but they never did. I would have loved to see something about them even or especially if it was debunking our idea of a Plague Doctor. Or at least the fact that it wasn't employed during the first Black Death (or, rather, the Second Plague). So if you're thinking of getting the book for that, this won't be the book for you.
I was also intrigued by the last part of the book talking about the aftermath. Outside of the bigger overarching changes, you rarely hear how they tried to control the spread of future diseases, including the introduction of the process of quarantine. So I was very much intrigued by Part 4.
(Oh and thank you, Mr. Asbridge, for not writing the excerpts of various documents verbatim. I do not enjoy trying to read Medieval/Middle English.)
Thank you to Random House and NetGalley for the review copy!
In many ways the Black Death lead to a jump in understanding of disease, though they still were not quite sure how to handle it or pandemics like it for hundreds of years. The Black Death was unprecedented in all meanings of the word. The doctors and nurses and other medical people of the time did what they could with what they had. So, too, did the layman. But that was then and this is now. It's enough to frustrate a person when someone in the modern day downplays modern pandemics and claims we don't actually know how to stop the spread as if they're people from the 14th century and believe we haven't advanced medically quite a bit since then.
The Black Death has been written about so much that a reader can be forgiven for sighing and going "another one?" although I was intrigued when I saw this one because I wondered if something new had been discovered before I read the description and when I did read it, I was even more intrigued that the author came at the subject via the human experience and reaction rather than a dry rehash of the disease's movement. The Black Death is like Jack the Ripper, there are so many people writing about it. But at least in the case of the Black Death, we have the actual identity of the killer.
What I enjoy about this book is it isn't a rehash of the spread of the disease but rather a look at the response to it on an emotional and societal level. This is often missing from other books and research. It is important to know how people felt at the time, in order for later pandemics to be manageable on an emotional level. Panic and depression can be just as damaging.
As the author writes, we see that some went to incredible extremes to stop the spread. Or some turned to theft. Both were seen in the pogroms against the Jews. This is part of the Black Death knowledge that is often missing from peoples' minds. The Jews were cast as the villains of the Black Death, with accusations of poisoning water supplies. So many Jews were murdered while others were put through criminal trials which just almost always ended in being executed.
Jewish ideals such as Pikuach Nefesh, which asserts that health is most important of all. This ideal is what is given as a reason to not fast during fasting holidays if the Jew in question is ill or requires food on a constant basis during the day (often related to things like diabetes). And then there's the coincidence of handwashing being a part of ritual observance. Even just rinsing your hands can help remove the germs on your hands. (Eventually, of course, handwashing was suggested throughout the 'known world' during successive plague resurgences. They may not have known exactly why that helped, but at least they did it. Same with learning to social distance.)
The attacks on Jews were not solely motivated by the conspiracy of poisoning the wells, of course. But there was a monetary aspect as well. As the writer notes, the Pope of the time, Clement VI, himself hit upon the reason for Christians to be attacking Jews: they wanted the money Jews had or they wanted to completely destroy the evidence of loans that the Jews had to wipe away the debt that Gentiles had accrued. Jews at that time were moneylenders, bankers. So in a way, Jews couldn't win.
I enjoyed the writing quite a bit and would certainly suggest that anyone interested more in the human experience of the plague read this book. And overall it reminds us that we can't really do anything but feel sympathy for those who lived through the Black Death. Nor can we mock the medical response to it as they did the best they could with what they had and knew at the time.
I will admit I kept waiting for the Plague Doctors to come up but they never did. I would have loved to see something about them even or especially if it was debunking our idea of a Plague Doctor. Or at least the fact that it wasn't employed during the first Black Death (or, rather, the Second Plague). So if you're thinking of getting the book for that, this won't be the book for you.
I was also intrigued by the last part of the book talking about the aftermath. Outside of the bigger overarching changes, you rarely hear how they tried to control the spread of future diseases, including the introduction of the process of quarantine. So I was very much intrigued by Part 4.
(Oh and thank you, Mr. Asbridge, for not writing the excerpts of various documents verbatim. I do not enjoy trying to read Medieval/Middle English.)
Thank you to Random House and NetGalley for the review copy!
July 23, 2026
The Black Death: A Global History by historian Thomas Asbridge is a heavily researched look back into centuries past, a timely story of a contemporary dodged bullet, and at its close, a warning. It is also an excellent work of non-fiction.
Structured into three sections, the book covers the spread and impact of the Black Death in the 14th century and beyond; what we have since learned (and not learned) about the disease in terms of its cause, the vectors by which it spread, the reasons for its great lethality; and finally; the broader social impact of the disease and the lessons we modern folks can take from its horror.
Along the way, Asbridge does three particularly effective things. One is he expands discussion beyond the typical focus on Europe (particularly Western Europe) to show how it also affected — in many ways to a worse degree — the Muslim world in Asia, the Middle East, and Northern Africa (records are lacking sadly in other parts of the world, leaving historians with little if anything to draw conclusions from).
Second, he humanizes the disease’s impact by doing much more than citing the appalling numbers. That’s not to say he doesn’t give us the number; boy does he ever. At some points the reader may wish for a little less detail on body counts in towns, cities, and countries. But that’s a minor quibble if that, and the focus on such facts is more than reasonable. But the numbers take a back seat to a series of mini-biographies/histories Asbridge has culled from official records, diaries, and letters so that the number have names and faces attached to them rather than being an abstraction.
Some of these faces are well known to us: Chaucer, Petrarch, Wycliff to name a few. Others we may not know specifically but they come with recognizable titles: popes, kings, queens, princesses, khans. Others, such as a number of quoted scholars/doctors, may ring a faint bell. But this is not a “great man’s” history of the disease, for we also get a number of people of the middle-class: traders and merchants, tradespeople such as a shoemaker, lower-level politicians such as a mayor, and a number of down-the-ecclesiastical-ladder priests and ministers. Time and again, just as the disease runs the risk of being an abstract horror, Asbridge grounds us in the personal human toll: fathers and mothers burying their children, wives and husbands their spouses, children their parents, priests and doctors their colleagues. Even as the numbers add up, even as Asbridge lucidly, methodically explains the disease’s spread, it’s impact on the economy, on faith, on social cohesion, and more, we never lose sight that all of this affected living people.
And unfortunately, as he vividly details, some people — the Jews — did not simply have to face the terror of the Black Death but also the horror of being scapegoated as the cause of the plague, as a wildfire of pogroms, massacres, and expulsions spread across the continent.
The third thing he does is to break us out of the idea that there were a few concentrated “bad years” of the Black Death. Instead, he very clearly lays out how the plague hit in the 14th century, then went dormant for 12-20 years, then came roaring back on a similar cycle for another few centuries. Less lethal yes, but given that the estimated mortality in the Black Death years was near 50%, “less lethal” isn’t all that comforting.
It’s hard to imagine anyone out-researching Asbridge on this topic, so the facts are obviously a strength (as they should be for a work of non-fiction). Combined with the more personal touches that permeate the book, the dive into the race to nail down the cause and vectors, and then the zoom out into the larger impacts, it all makes for an easy and strong recommendation.
Structured into three sections, the book covers the spread and impact of the Black Death in the 14th century and beyond; what we have since learned (and not learned) about the disease in terms of its cause, the vectors by which it spread, the reasons for its great lethality; and finally; the broader social impact of the disease and the lessons we modern folks can take from its horror.
Along the way, Asbridge does three particularly effective things. One is he expands discussion beyond the typical focus on Europe (particularly Western Europe) to show how it also affected — in many ways to a worse degree — the Muslim world in Asia, the Middle East, and Northern Africa (records are lacking sadly in other parts of the world, leaving historians with little if anything to draw conclusions from).
Second, he humanizes the disease’s impact by doing much more than citing the appalling numbers. That’s not to say he doesn’t give us the number; boy does he ever. At some points the reader may wish for a little less detail on body counts in towns, cities, and countries. But that’s a minor quibble if that, and the focus on such facts is more than reasonable. But the numbers take a back seat to a series of mini-biographies/histories Asbridge has culled from official records, diaries, and letters so that the number have names and faces attached to them rather than being an abstraction.
Some of these faces are well known to us: Chaucer, Petrarch, Wycliff to name a few. Others we may not know specifically but they come with recognizable titles: popes, kings, queens, princesses, khans. Others, such as a number of quoted scholars/doctors, may ring a faint bell. But this is not a “great man’s” history of the disease, for we also get a number of people of the middle-class: traders and merchants, tradespeople such as a shoemaker, lower-level politicians such as a mayor, and a number of down-the-ecclesiastical-ladder priests and ministers. Time and again, just as the disease runs the risk of being an abstract horror, Asbridge grounds us in the personal human toll: fathers and mothers burying their children, wives and husbands their spouses, children their parents, priests and doctors their colleagues. Even as the numbers add up, even as Asbridge lucidly, methodically explains the disease’s spread, it’s impact on the economy, on faith, on social cohesion, and more, we never lose sight that all of this affected living people.
And unfortunately, as he vividly details, some people — the Jews — did not simply have to face the terror of the Black Death but also the horror of being scapegoated as the cause of the plague, as a wildfire of pogroms, massacres, and expulsions spread across the continent.
The third thing he does is to break us out of the idea that there were a few concentrated “bad years” of the Black Death. Instead, he very clearly lays out how the plague hit in the 14th century, then went dormant for 12-20 years, then came roaring back on a similar cycle for another few centuries. Less lethal yes, but given that the estimated mortality in the Black Death years was near 50%, “less lethal” isn’t all that comforting.
It’s hard to imagine anyone out-researching Asbridge on this topic, so the facts are obviously a strength (as they should be for a work of non-fiction). Combined with the more personal touches that permeate the book, the dive into the race to nail down the cause and vectors, and then the zoom out into the larger impacts, it all makes for an easy and strong recommendation.
August 29, 2026
Uneven and not that good overall.
It's probably 2.75 rounded up. Per a 2-star reviewer, the last part is best. That's about not just the late 1890s quest to nail down the culprit, eventually pegged as Yersina pestis, but claims in the latter one-third or so of the 20th century, and into the 21st, that Yersina pestis did not cause the Black Death. These claims were raised because of the BD's non-seasonality and other issues. Alternatives proposed were either anthrax, or some sort of non-tropical Ebola-like hemorrhagic fever, even though neither fits the symptoms.
DNA analysis, though, nailed it down, both for this and the First Plague Pandemic, which includes, but is far from limited to, the Plague of Justinian.
That gets to a second issue. As the author himself notes, much more writing survives from the Black Death-period Second Pandemic than the first. So, how do we know the second one was that much worse? Wiki's page on the Second Plague Pandemic, suggests the first one killed half of Europe, though that's not mentioned at the First Pandemic link
Related? How do we know the second one hit Islam that much worse than Christianity? Yes, Mamluk Egypt crumbled and was eventually captured by the Ottomans, but how much of that connected that closely to the pandemic? Besides, the Ottomans were also Muslims and Egypt started recovering again under them. Also, while Islam became the state religion of the Golden Horde in 1313, I doubt that it was more than a small percentage among the European portion of the Horde's lands by 1350. Also, contrary Ashbridge, IMO, the Horde had more than a "short-lived and stuttering" revival in the late 1300s, though it for all intents and purposes ended in 1419.
Next, why are we cutting off the Second Plague to just a few years of the Black Death, narrowly defined? After all, plague chased Newton out of London as part of its 1665-66 surge. While it's technically considered endemic, not pandemic, after the 1350s, nonetheless, it was a powerful endemic.
The book keeps a third star from the personal memoirs of survivors in both Christian and Islamic worlds. That said, do we have any from the non-Islamic portions of the Mongol world? China? With such, the issue of religious effect could have been further discussed. That said, that Islamic authors, including doctors, often attributed the plague's spread to kismet and rejected the idea of contagion is interesting. Again, what did Buddhist or Confucian doctors say in China or the larger Mongol lands?
Getting back to the top?
I think the book would have better been served with the specific modern research info at the start. Then, an authorial thesis about his specificity of focus on the Black Death, why he didn't look beyond later endemic plague, then some defense of the Second Pandemic against the first, finally an explainer of why there's no look beyond the Islamic and Christian worlds, then dive in.
It's probably 2.75 rounded up. Per a 2-star reviewer, the last part is best. That's about not just the late 1890s quest to nail down the culprit, eventually pegged as Yersina pestis, but claims in the latter one-third or so of the 20th century, and into the 21st, that Yersina pestis did not cause the Black Death. These claims were raised because of the BD's non-seasonality and other issues. Alternatives proposed were either anthrax, or some sort of non-tropical Ebola-like hemorrhagic fever, even though neither fits the symptoms.
DNA analysis, though, nailed it down, both for this and the First Plague Pandemic, which includes, but is far from limited to, the Plague of Justinian.
That gets to a second issue. As the author himself notes, much more writing survives from the Black Death-period Second Pandemic than the first. So, how do we know the second one was that much worse? Wiki's page on the Second Plague Pandemic, suggests the first one killed half of Europe, though that's not mentioned at the First Pandemic link
Related? How do we know the second one hit Islam that much worse than Christianity? Yes, Mamluk Egypt crumbled and was eventually captured by the Ottomans, but how much of that connected that closely to the pandemic? Besides, the Ottomans were also Muslims and Egypt started recovering again under them. Also, while Islam became the state religion of the Golden Horde in 1313, I doubt that it was more than a small percentage among the European portion of the Horde's lands by 1350. Also, contrary Ashbridge, IMO, the Horde had more than a "short-lived and stuttering" revival in the late 1300s, though it for all intents and purposes ended in 1419.
Next, why are we cutting off the Second Plague to just a few years of the Black Death, narrowly defined? After all, plague chased Newton out of London as part of its 1665-66 surge. While it's technically considered endemic, not pandemic, after the 1350s, nonetheless, it was a powerful endemic.
The book keeps a third star from the personal memoirs of survivors in both Christian and Islamic worlds. That said, do we have any from the non-Islamic portions of the Mongol world? China? With such, the issue of religious effect could have been further discussed. That said, that Islamic authors, including doctors, often attributed the plague's spread to kismet and rejected the idea of contagion is interesting. Again, what did Buddhist or Confucian doctors say in China or the larger Mongol lands?
Getting back to the top?
I think the book would have better been served with the specific modern research info at the start. Then, an authorial thesis about his specificity of focus on the Black Death, why he didn't look beyond later endemic plague, then some defense of the Second Pandemic against the first, finally an explainer of why there's no look beyond the Islamic and Christian worlds, then dive in.
September 12, 2026
Superb book about the Black Plague that began around 1347. While numbers are hard to determine, around 100 million people died, about one half of the human population at that time. Medical care was lacking and the entire earth was infected. There was no treatment. While that is shocking the plague really never went away. It continued for hundreds of years. The plague returned cyclically every 10- 15 years. Populations did not rebound for hundreds of years. Proven beyond a doubt, and by the work of a genius scientist, the plague was caused by Yersinia Pestis. Alexandre Yersin discovered the causative agent in Hong Kong in 1894. He went into a makeshift morgue, and cut out one of the distinctive buboes in a corpses groin. He examined it under a microscope. He noted "very small rods, thick with rounded ends and lightly coloured." But sadly, there were no antibiotics at that time. By the way, the plague is still with us in pockets around the earth.
Orthodox Islamic tenets believed that the disease was not infectious, a curse from God. Shockingly, there was an official prohibition on flight. People were forbidden from leaving and trying to escape the horror. One Muslim writer stated that "the disease was in no way contagious-that is it did not spread from one person to another." "Because the plague was a spiritual affliition, those who fell ill were better off consulting a scholar for assistance, rather than a physician." Christianity also believed that God had something to do with it. In Europe, contemporaries marveled, however, at the plague's contagiousness. With lightning speed, the plague spread through a household, and by the way, many Christians fled. Without a Palestinian in sight, Jews who suffered like everyone else were slaughtered by the thousands. Of course, they had to have caused the plague. The precise mode of plague's transmission has not been proven. The author holds that the transmission is more complex that rats and fleas. Abridge believes that there is a "wider range of insect and animal vectors, and acknowledges the potentially significant role of human to human transmission."
Along with climate change and continuous warfare, the plague served to accelerate changes in the world. This may have led to the Renaissance and the Age of Discovery. It may also to have sparked the schism that led to the Reformation. The author marvels, however, that even with these massive population losses, cultures and countries for the most part held together.
Orthodox Islamic tenets believed that the disease was not infectious, a curse from God. Shockingly, there was an official prohibition on flight. People were forbidden from leaving and trying to escape the horror. One Muslim writer stated that "the disease was in no way contagious-that is it did not spread from one person to another." "Because the plague was a spiritual affliition, those who fell ill were better off consulting a scholar for assistance, rather than a physician." Christianity also believed that God had something to do with it. In Europe, contemporaries marveled, however, at the plague's contagiousness. With lightning speed, the plague spread through a household, and by the way, many Christians fled. Without a Palestinian in sight, Jews who suffered like everyone else were slaughtered by the thousands. Of course, they had to have caused the plague. The precise mode of plague's transmission has not been proven. The author holds that the transmission is more complex that rats and fleas. Abridge believes that there is a "wider range of insect and animal vectors, and acknowledges the potentially significant role of human to human transmission."
Along with climate change and continuous warfare, the plague served to accelerate changes in the world. This may have led to the Renaissance and the Age of Discovery. It may also to have sparked the schism that led to the Reformation. The author marvels, however, that even with these massive population losses, cultures and countries for the most part held together.
November 28, 2025
Thomas Asbridge's The Black Death, an account of the plague which spread across the known mediaeval world and probably well beyond it in a series of pulses from the mid fourteenth century onwards is, quite simply, the most informative, accessible and comprehensive history book I think I have ever read. It's by no means the first book about this apocalyptic event that I've read, though it is the first since our current century's own experience of a much lower level pandemic.
At 560 pages it's a chunky offering, to say the least, but every one of those pages is packed with information and insight. The book is split into three sections. The first, which reads like a thriller, covers the progress of the disease from its first appearance in the shores of the Black Sea as it spread through an initially unaware and later terrified western hemisphere. The second considers how the world responded to this unprecedented disaster: how cities dealt with the loss of trade and the collapse of their economies, how they tackled the problems of feeding the living and burying the dead. The third looks at how the mystery of the plague's origins and nature was unravelled and the impacts it had upon the world not just in the immediate aftermath but for centuries to come.
I was utterly enthralled by it, largely because Asbridge quotes extensively from contemporary accounts and the words of those who suffered -- their pain, their bewilderment, their sense of utter terror -- prove both poignant and (I felt a little guilty about this) compelling. Some stayed, some fled. Some accepted it as their punishment from God, some railed against religion. And many of them -- possibly half the population -- did not survive.
In my experience it's rare that a historian takes in such a well-known topic and covers it with such a fresh eye. I admired this book for many things, including its comprehensive coverage of a huge topic and the quality of its writing, but most of all I commend the author for making such a complex event so easily understandable. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and learned a vast amount from it.
At 560 pages it's a chunky offering, to say the least, but every one of those pages is packed with information and insight. The book is split into three sections. The first, which reads like a thriller, covers the progress of the disease from its first appearance in the shores of the Black Sea as it spread through an initially unaware and later terrified western hemisphere. The second considers how the world responded to this unprecedented disaster: how cities dealt with the loss of trade and the collapse of their economies, how they tackled the problems of feeding the living and burying the dead. The third looks at how the mystery of the plague's origins and nature was unravelled and the impacts it had upon the world not just in the immediate aftermath but for centuries to come.
I was utterly enthralled by it, largely because Asbridge quotes extensively from contemporary accounts and the words of those who suffered -- their pain, their bewilderment, their sense of utter terror -- prove both poignant and (I felt a little guilty about this) compelling. Some stayed, some fled. Some accepted it as their punishment from God, some railed against religion. And many of them -- possibly half the population -- did not survive.
In my experience it's rare that a historian takes in such a well-known topic and covers it with such a fresh eye. I admired this book for many things, including its comprehensive coverage of a huge topic and the quality of its writing, but most of all I commend the author for making such a complex event so easily understandable. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and learned a vast amount from it.
Review of advance copy received from Publisher
There are some things in history that defy comprehension. I think the top of that list is the Black Death. It was so complex, devastating, and widespread that I'm not sure any human can comprehend the death of 100 million people from a tiny bacterium. All of these aspects also make the Black Death incredibly difficult to write about. Luckily, we have Thomas Asbridge.
This book was a no-brainer as soon as I saw it. Asbridge's The Greatest Knight is an all-time classic for me and thus I had every confidence he would deliver with The Black Death. I didn't know how, but I knew I'd enjoy myself.
Like other books on the plague-above-all, an author cannot write anything close to a narrative history with central characters and a solid through-line. Asbridge breaks his book up into four sections. The first follows how the plague wipes out Europe, as well as parts of Asia and Africa. He chooses a few characters to illustrate the day-to-day terror as death stalks its way to the Atlantic. The second section looks at how society responded to the plague. Verdict: Society held up surprisingly well considering. The third section, which I found to be the most fascinating, was about the way we humans figured out what the Black Death was and how it caused so much destruction. Well, we didn't figure out everything, but we figured out a few things. Part four looks at the aftermath and how recovery occurred.
I would say to readers that Asbridge is a detail-heavy author. This is not a veiled comment that he is long-winded or boring. On the contrary, everything he provides is relevant and important. He wants the reader to be fully steeped in the story and details so that they can best feel and understand the world they are reading about. As expected, this is not a lighthearted romp through Medieval Europe. This is a serious history of the largest natural disaster in human history. If you are looking for a quick rundown of the plague, then you are going to get way more than expected. For us hardcore history nerds, this is pure gold.
(This book was provided as a review copy by Random House.)
This book was a no-brainer as soon as I saw it. Asbridge's The Greatest Knight is an all-time classic for me and thus I had every confidence he would deliver with The Black Death. I didn't know how, but I knew I'd enjoy myself.
Like other books on the plague-above-all, an author cannot write anything close to a narrative history with central characters and a solid through-line. Asbridge breaks his book up into four sections. The first follows how the plague wipes out Europe, as well as parts of Asia and Africa. He chooses a few characters to illustrate the day-to-day terror as death stalks its way to the Atlantic. The second section looks at how society responded to the plague. Verdict: Society held up surprisingly well considering. The third section, which I found to be the most fascinating, was about the way we humans figured out what the Black Death was and how it caused so much destruction. Well, we didn't figure out everything, but we figured out a few things. Part four looks at the aftermath and how recovery occurred.
I would say to readers that Asbridge is a detail-heavy author. This is not a veiled comment that he is long-winded or boring. On the contrary, everything he provides is relevant and important. He wants the reader to be fully steeped in the story and details so that they can best feel and understand the world they are reading about. As expected, this is not a lighthearted romp through Medieval Europe. This is a serious history of the largest natural disaster in human history. If you are looking for a quick rundown of the plague, then you are going to get way more than expected. For us hardcore history nerds, this is pure gold.
(This book was provided as a review copy by Random House.)
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
Years ago, during the last stages of the Covid-19 pandemic, I began the New Year by reading Thomas Asbridge’s The Crusades: The War for the Holy Land. I quite enjoyed that book, so when I saw Asbridge had a book about the Black Death, of course, I had to give it a read, and I can say it was better than I expected.
It is very hard not to compare how we feel about pandemics with the experience of the Black Death, since all of us who are going to be able to read this book, until the pandemic and post-pandemic babies grow up, still have the image of COVID-19 in our minds. One thing that stuck with me as I was reading the book was how much the world has changed, yet many of the conspiracies, lack of precautions, shifting blame, and fight-to-survive have stayed the same.
There were two main things I enjoyed about this book that I need to mention. One, the book covers a very wide range of research. I like that it does not just focus on one geographical area. One may find this a bit too much, but in my opinion, a catastrophic, worldwide event like this requires information from as many sources as possible.
My second enjoyment was from the way the book was written. As I mentioned, I was already interested in Asbridge’s writing because of The Crusades: The War for the Holy Land, and I found similar satisfaction from this book as well. I love how Asbridge did not just focus on the days of the Black Death, but also on its early stages and aftermath. Moreover, since we have recurring important sources throughout the book, continuity is easier for non-historians to follow. The book is quite long, but it is very well organized, and the writing style does not tire you while you read. This is why I think the book is fit for those who are not historians either.
Overall, I would suggest this book to everyone. The book's length shouldn't scare anyone willing to read it, because I think the information in it is very valuable.
Huge thanks to Netgalley, Penguin Press UK – Allen Lane, Particular, Pelican, Penguin Classics | Allen Lane, and Thomas Asbridge for this advanced reader’s copy.
It is very hard not to compare how we feel about pandemics with the experience of the Black Death, since all of us who are going to be able to read this book, until the pandemic and post-pandemic babies grow up, still have the image of COVID-19 in our minds. One thing that stuck with me as I was reading the book was how much the world has changed, yet many of the conspiracies, lack of precautions, shifting blame, and fight-to-survive have stayed the same.
There were two main things I enjoyed about this book that I need to mention. One, the book covers a very wide range of research. I like that it does not just focus on one geographical area. One may find this a bit too much, but in my opinion, a catastrophic, worldwide event like this requires information from as many sources as possible.
My second enjoyment was from the way the book was written. As I mentioned, I was already interested in Asbridge’s writing because of The Crusades: The War for the Holy Land, and I found similar satisfaction from this book as well. I love how Asbridge did not just focus on the days of the Black Death, but also on its early stages and aftermath. Moreover, since we have recurring important sources throughout the book, continuity is easier for non-historians to follow. The book is quite long, but it is very well organized, and the writing style does not tire you while you read. This is why I think the book is fit for those who are not historians either.
Overall, I would suggest this book to everyone. The book's length shouldn't scare anyone willing to read it, because I think the information in it is very valuable.
Huge thanks to Netgalley, Penguin Press UK – Allen Lane, Particular, Pelican, Penguin Classics | Allen Lane, and Thomas Asbridge for this advanced reader’s copy.
July 16, 2026
An exhaustively researched and deeply comprehensive tome of the Black Death, covering the Black Death's impact on European, the Near East, and North Africa. Dr. Thomas Asbridge does a truly remarkable job in covering both the flow of the outbreak itself, along with the later medical and scholarly efforts to figure out what caused this. I take it somewhat for granted that we know that it is the Yersinia pestis -- I did not realize that there had been dispute about that in the past few decades. It is remarkable to consider that the transmission of the plague in the years 1347-1353 or so is kind of disputed. We know it spread more wildly, rapidly, and dangerously, but we don't really know how. Also the horror of a returning devastating plague every 10-15 years thereafter for the next 350-400 years is just...alarming. I am never time traveling. As Dr. Asbridge notes, it's almost more amazing that people were able to carry on with surprising rapidity in the years after some 50% of their population perished. I mean, clearly one just must do so, and the defining feature of humans surely must be their tenacity.
Dr. Asbridge really does an incredible job with sources. As we have very few, if any, reliable ways of ascertaining the population of any of these communities, reviewing the records of wills and testaments is truly inspired for gauging the extent to which the plague wiped out polities. I can't imagine that was the most fun trawling through the archives, but it is clever.
The book, thus, is pretty academic. It's still enjoyable and approachable, and Dr. Asbridge really has a lovely way of writing. But it's not necessarily for the most casual readers, which shouldn't be surprising. I mean, I bought it as a little gift to myself three days after my brother died because nothing says "Thea" quite like a giant, medieval history book on a massive dying event. That being said, I did put it down several times to distract from "and everyone but one person in this family died" narrative. Seemed a bit harsh.
Ultimately, though this was occasionally a bit too detailed, I respect and applaud the incredible scrutiny and doggedness of this pretty excellent book.
Dr. Asbridge really does an incredible job with sources. As we have very few, if any, reliable ways of ascertaining the population of any of these communities, reviewing the records of wills and testaments is truly inspired for gauging the extent to which the plague wiped out polities. I can't imagine that was the most fun trawling through the archives, but it is clever.
The book, thus, is pretty academic. It's still enjoyable and approachable, and Dr. Asbridge really has a lovely way of writing. But it's not necessarily for the most casual readers, which shouldn't be surprising. I mean, I bought it as a little gift to myself three days after my brother died because nothing says "Thea" quite like a giant, medieval history book on a massive dying event. That being said, I did put it down several times to distract from "and everyone but one person in this family died" narrative. Seemed a bit harsh.
Ultimately, though this was occasionally a bit too detailed, I respect and applaud the incredible scrutiny and doggedness of this pretty excellent book.
July 31, 2026
Thomas Asbridge has written one of the most outstanding books I have read this year. The Black Death was the most devastating and definitely the most horrible pandemic which has occurred in the annals of humanity, killing a quarter of the world's popularion. All of this happened in the 14th century, and to be more precise, the peak of it wass between 1348-1354. The victioms were to be found not only in Europe,but also in the Middle East, North Africa and also in Asia.
What differs and makes this book unique is the inclusion of many individual stories of victims, their families, their friends and also the fact that it has wiped off the Mamluk Empire. London, Cairo, Florence were amongst the most famous places where terrible tragedies took place. Among the characters appearing here are Boccaccio, whose famous Decameron was set during the Black Dearh;Ibn Battuta, the pilgrim and traveler who witenessed the plague in Syria, Palestine and Egypt;Joan of England, who was the young daughter of King Edward the 3rd and who has succumbed to the plague;Matteo Villani, brother to Giovanni Villani, who died in 1363 ,during the second outbreak and many more.
Professor Asbridge, who was, unfortunately, afflicted by Covid-19 and has suffered from its Long Covid effects, has invested eight years of historical research, which included the analysis of thousands of comtemporary documents and records,and was also informed by the latest academic scholarship and scientific discoveries.
By what might be termed micro-histories, the author has brought to his readers the human experience of the plague and its aftermath ,quoting examples from Constantinople, Moorish Spain and Platagenet England.
He includes many maps, showing the plague's spread in various geographical areas and hasa lso included photos of the two most imporatant scientists who traveled to Hong Kong to find out what the real cause of this disastrous plague's origins came from, in addtion to mant other never-again published photos.
This book, which puts a human face on the Black Death, reads like a super-fast thriller and makes it a must read book. Kudos,Professor Asbridge.
What differs and makes this book unique is the inclusion of many individual stories of victims, their families, their friends and also the fact that it has wiped off the Mamluk Empire. London, Cairo, Florence were amongst the most famous places where terrible tragedies took place. Among the characters appearing here are Boccaccio, whose famous Decameron was set during the Black Dearh;Ibn Battuta, the pilgrim and traveler who witenessed the plague in Syria, Palestine and Egypt;Joan of England, who was the young daughter of King Edward the 3rd and who has succumbed to the plague;Matteo Villani, brother to Giovanni Villani, who died in 1363 ,during the second outbreak and many more.
Professor Asbridge, who was, unfortunately, afflicted by Covid-19 and has suffered from its Long Covid effects, has invested eight years of historical research, which included the analysis of thousands of comtemporary documents and records,and was also informed by the latest academic scholarship and scientific discoveries.
By what might be termed micro-histories, the author has brought to his readers the human experience of the plague and its aftermath ,quoting examples from Constantinople, Moorish Spain and Platagenet England.
He includes many maps, showing the plague's spread in various geographical areas and hasa lso included photos of the two most imporatant scientists who traveled to Hong Kong to find out what the real cause of this disastrous plague's origins came from, in addtion to mant other never-again published photos.
This book, which puts a human face on the Black Death, reads like a super-fast thriller and makes it a must read book. Kudos,Professor Asbridge.
June 30, 2026
One of my favorite books of all time is A Distant Mirror: The Calamitous 14th Century, by Pulitzer Prize winner Barbara Tuchman. Read decades ago when I was a young man, this book introduced me to The Black Death and to a period of European history that was a revelation to me.
Any book about that period will inevitably be compared to Barbara Tuchman’s magnificent work. Thomas Asbridge’s The Black Death: A Global History of Humanity’s Devastating Pandemic stands up to that comparison by widening the scope of the story. Western Christendom is well covered in this story, and he expands the tale by also exploring the impact of the plague on the Islamic world, which at the time was more populous and more prosperous than European Christendom. We hear from both Petrarch and Ibn Khaldun, from doctors in England and Italy as well as doctors in Egypt and Persia, from religious thinkers both Christian and Islamic.
Mr. Asbridge also covers modern research into the sources of The Black Death, and the vectors that spread it with such frightening velocity across continents. Having recently experienced COVID-19, I found this very interesting.
The most important aspect of this story - whether told by Tuchman or Asbridge - is the shocking mortality of The Black Death. One hundred million deaths. Half the population or more in many locations. The demographic impacts altered trade, labor markets, and power relations for centuries to come. Another powerful insight from Mr. Asbridge’s book is that The Black Death strengthened rather than weakened religious devotion, both in the Christian and Islamic worlds.
Not all reviewers agree with my take, and it is good to have many views. Only one man’s view, by I enjoyed this book.
Any book about that period will inevitably be compared to Barbara Tuchman’s magnificent work. Thomas Asbridge’s The Black Death: A Global History of Humanity’s Devastating Pandemic stands up to that comparison by widening the scope of the story. Western Christendom is well covered in this story, and he expands the tale by also exploring the impact of the plague on the Islamic world, which at the time was more populous and more prosperous than European Christendom. We hear from both Petrarch and Ibn Khaldun, from doctors in England and Italy as well as doctors in Egypt and Persia, from religious thinkers both Christian and Islamic.
Mr. Asbridge also covers modern research into the sources of The Black Death, and the vectors that spread it with such frightening velocity across continents. Having recently experienced COVID-19, I found this very interesting.
The most important aspect of this story - whether told by Tuchman or Asbridge - is the shocking mortality of The Black Death. One hundred million deaths. Half the population or more in many locations. The demographic impacts altered trade, labor markets, and power relations for centuries to come. Another powerful insight from Mr. Asbridge’s book is that The Black Death strengthened rather than weakened religious devotion, both in the Christian and Islamic worlds.
Not all reviewers agree with my take, and it is good to have many views. Only one man’s view, by I enjoyed this book.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
This is a real treat for fans of history and/or epidemiology (I'm guilty on both counts!).
It's rare to find a volume that's as detailed, comprehensive, and simultaneously engaging as this one. The author leaves no stone unturned, examining not only the global spread of the Black Death, but also the response to it and its consequences. Yet, he avoids overwhelming the reader with a dry list of names and places. This is thanks to the author's accessible, conversational writing style and the multitude of sources he relies on to bring real people and their experiences to life.
The book is also very cleverly constructed. As the author writes, „Any narrative that starts with a modern diagnosis also undercuts our ability to properly engage with the lived experience of the Black Death, because it strips away one of the pandemic’s key features – its capacity to inspire febrile, dread-laden confusion within society […] To approach the medieval evidence without prejudice, while also exposing readers to the desperate uncertainty endured by those who faced the Black Death, this book deliberately sets aside the question of identifying the disease that caused the medieval pandemic or decoding its biological nature until Part III.” I can confirm that this concept pans out, turning the read into an immersive experience.
Even if you are well-read in medieval history, you will find plenty of fascinating new facts and stories here. The book is up to date on scientific research, presenting the latest data, quoting recently discovered sources and debunking many popular myths.
Thanks to the publisher, Penguin Press UK – Allen Lane, and NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book.
It's rare to find a volume that's as detailed, comprehensive, and simultaneously engaging as this one. The author leaves no stone unturned, examining not only the global spread of the Black Death, but also the response to it and its consequences. Yet, he avoids overwhelming the reader with a dry list of names and places. This is thanks to the author's accessible, conversational writing style and the multitude of sources he relies on to bring real people and their experiences to life.
The book is also very cleverly constructed. As the author writes, „Any narrative that starts with a modern diagnosis also undercuts our ability to properly engage with the lived experience of the Black Death, because it strips away one of the pandemic’s key features – its capacity to inspire febrile, dread-laden confusion within society […] To approach the medieval evidence without prejudice, while also exposing readers to the desperate uncertainty endured by those who faced the Black Death, this book deliberately sets aside the question of identifying the disease that caused the medieval pandemic or decoding its biological nature until Part III.” I can confirm that this concept pans out, turning the read into an immersive experience.
Even if you are well-read in medieval history, you will find plenty of fascinating new facts and stories here. The book is up to date on scientific research, presenting the latest data, quoting recently discovered sources and debunking many popular myths.
Thanks to the publisher, Penguin Press UK – Allen Lane, and NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
4.25
Black Death by Thomas Asbridge is an exhaustive look at one of the greatest natural disasters to befall mankind—so far.
The book is split into several sections: the worldwide spread of the disease and its devastation on populations; the responses to the plague, both well-meaning and grotesque; the medical research, which takes us from the fourteenth century right up to the present day; and the Black Death’s lasting impact on surviving populations, culture, and religion.
The Black Death: A Global History is truly a remarkable book. Admittedly, I occasionally had minor quibbles about the focus and framing, but I cannot deny the sheer amount of work and research that went into it.
Asbridge adopts a very analytical and neutral tone, which serves the book extremely well. In the first section, the testaments and reports from travelling traders, who bore witness as villages were wiped out in what must have seemed like the end of time, are stark but impactful.
This tone is particularly effective when the author examines the innocent minority communities in affected cities, who suffered the wrath of panicking majorities seeking scapegoats or opportunity. The section is sobering and depressing—and sadly feels all too familiar today.
Overall, this is a highly informative and genuinely engaging book, which takes care to dispel any myths surrounding the infamous disease. The Black Death: A Global History is perhaps a catch-all on the subject, since so much is covered within its pages.
Highly recommended.
With thanks to Penguin Press UK – Allen Lane for the ARC.
Black Death by Thomas Asbridge is an exhaustive look at one of the greatest natural disasters to befall mankind—so far.
The book is split into several sections: the worldwide spread of the disease and its devastation on populations; the responses to the plague, both well-meaning and grotesque; the medical research, which takes us from the fourteenth century right up to the present day; and the Black Death’s lasting impact on surviving populations, culture, and religion.
The Black Death: A Global History is truly a remarkable book. Admittedly, I occasionally had minor quibbles about the focus and framing, but I cannot deny the sheer amount of work and research that went into it.
Asbridge adopts a very analytical and neutral tone, which serves the book extremely well. In the first section, the testaments and reports from travelling traders, who bore witness as villages were wiped out in what must have seemed like the end of time, are stark but impactful.
This tone is particularly effective when the author examines the innocent minority communities in affected cities, who suffered the wrath of panicking majorities seeking scapegoats or opportunity. The section is sobering and depressing—and sadly feels all too familiar today.
Overall, this is a highly informative and genuinely engaging book, which takes care to dispel any myths surrounding the infamous disease. The Black Death: A Global History is perhaps a catch-all on the subject, since so much is covered within its pages.
Highly recommended.
With thanks to Penguin Press UK – Allen Lane for the ARC.
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