The Black Death: A Global History of Humanity's Most Devastating Pandemic

“A magisterial history” (The Guardian) of humanity’s greatest natural disaster—the Black Death—that reveals the true global impact and terrible human cost of this calamity, from the renowned author of The Crusades and The Greatest Knight.

“Terrific—and truly terrifying. Thomas Asbridge puts a human face—or rather multiple faces—on the Black Death.”—Eric Cline, author of 1177 B.C.

In the mid-fourteenth century, a lethal plague struck the medieval world, causing unimaginable suffering and destruction. The Black Death was unquestionably one of history’s defining episodes, yet a critical feature of its progress has often been ignored: 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.

About the Author :
Thomas Asbridge is a historian of the Middle Ages, previously specializing in the study of the crusades, knighthood and chivalry, and is Reader in Medieval History at Queen Mary, University of London. He is the author of The Crusades: The Authoritative History of the War for the Holy Land and The Greatest Knight: The Remarkable Life of William Marshal, the Power behind Five English Thrones. He also wrote and presented the landmark three-part BBC television series The Crusades.

Review :
“A magisterial history . . . takes the reader on a vivid tour . . . Asbridge evokes terror and pity by focusing in on what he calls ‘micro-histories.’ . . . [His] rich use of contemporary chronicles emphasizes people’s bafflement as well as horror.”—The Guardian

“Asbridge skillfully combines a global narrative of the plague with examples of horrendous personal tragedy to build a powerful portrait of a world that stared death in the face.”—The Times

“A vivid and sweeping new history of the outbreak. The Black Death is at its best when exploring the various cultural and religious reactions to unfathomable trauma, including in the Islamic world. . . . Asbridge’s extensive underlying research shows itself.”—The Wall Street Journal

“A gripping and authoritative global history of the plague . . . its impeccable, wide-ranging scholarship and its suitability for general readers make it an impressive achievement.”—Financial Times

“Terrific—and truly terrifying . . . Asbridge puts a human face—or rather multiple faces—on the Black Death, the most famous pandemic to have afflicted humankind prior to [the pandemic].”—Eric Cline, author of 1177 B.C

“Comprehensive history of a devastating plague that stretched over centuries. . . . a capable work that, as modern readers will understand, underscores the fragility of societies in the face of pandemic.”—Kirkus Reviews

“Truly mind-opening history, on a global scale that makes you rethink what you thought you knew.”—Lyndal Roper, author of Martin Luther

“Thomas Asbridge does for the Black Death what John Keegan did for battle: evoking the feeling of being there, recapturing the experience of the sufferers and survivors.”—Felipe Fernández-Armesto, author of Millennium and Civilizations

“An up-to-the-hour work of scholarship that is at the same time a page turner . . . Asbridge's definitive biography of Yersinia pestis, the germ that caused the world’s deadliest disease, is a masterpiece.”—Thomas Laqueur, author of The Work of the Dead

“This accessible and engaging global history of the Black Death takes readers on a grand tour of the plague’s ravages, revealing the lived experience both of the leading figures of the day and of ordinary men and women struggling to make sense of this calamity.”—John Aberth, author of The Black Death and Doctoring the Black Death

“[A] striking revisionist account of the Black Death. This deeply researched study of global disaster has great resonance for the present moment.”—Publishers Weekly, starred​ review