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In the Wake of the Plague: The Black Death and the World It Made
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Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 614.5732
EAN: 9780060014346
ISBN: 0060014342
Label: Harper Perennial
Manufacturer: Harper Perennial
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 272
Publication Date: April 01, 2002
Publisher: Harper Perennial
Release Date: April 16, 2002
Studio: Harper Perennial
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Editorial Review:
One-third of Western Europe's population died between 1348 and 1350, victims of the Black Death. Noted medievalist Norman Cantor tells the story of the pandemic and its widespread effects in In the Wake of the Plague.
After giving an overview, Cantor describes various theories about the medical crisis, from contemporary fears of a Jewish conspiracy to poison the water (and the resulting atrocities against European Jews) to a growing belief among modern historians that both bubonic plague and anthrax caused the spiraling death rates. Cantor also details ways in which the Black Death changed history, at both the personal level (family lines dying out) and the political (the Plantagenet kings may well have been able to hold onto France had their resources not been so diminished).
Cantor veers from topic to topic, from dynastic worries to the Dance of Death, and from peasants' rights to Perpendicular Gothic. This makes for amusing reading, though those seeking an orderly narrative may be frustrated. He also seems overly concerned with rumors of homosexual behavior, and his attempt to link the savage method of Edward II's murder to a cooling in global weather is a bit farfetched.
Cantor wears his considerable scholarship lightly, but includes a very useful critical biography for further reading. While not an entry-level text on the Black Death, In the Wake of the Plague will interest readers looking for a broader interpretation of its consequences. --Sunny Delaney
The Black Death was the fourteenth century's equivalent of a nuclear war. It wiped out one-third of Europe's population, takingmillion lives. And yet, most of what we know about it is wrong. The details of the Plague etched in the minds of terrified schoolchildren -- the hideous black welts, the high fever, and the awful end by respiratory failure -- are more or less accurate. But what the Plague really was and how it made history remain shrouded in a haze of myths.
Now, Norman Cantor, the premier historian of the Middle Ages, draws together the most recent scientific discoveries and groundbreaking historical research to pierce the mist and tell the story of the Black Death as a gripping, intimate narrative.
Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Rating: - Interesting Information In A Muddled Narrative.
"In The Wake Of The Plague" is a curious book by Norman F. Cantor where a lot of fascinating information is found in a muddle narrative. Those looking for a defenitive history of the Black Death will be frustrated by this book which is a little misleading in its presentation, it isn't so much about the plague itself as it is about the actual lifestyles and various events which surrounded the horrific event. For a real chronicle of the plague itself and a more lush, clear narrative, John Kelly's "The ... Read More
Rating:  - Interesting, but uneven
This is an interesting book about one of the direst slice of history. In just three years (1347 - 1350), the Plague will have wiped out over a third of Western Europe. Some countries incurred lesser but significant recurrence of the plague centuries later, including England in 1665. England will recover its pre-plague population level not until 1750 or four centuries later.
Gathering material from the scientific literature, the author shares that the Plague was a pandemic associated ... Read More
Rating:  - The most poorly written book I have ever read.
This is the only book I have started and decided I could no longer read. It is the most poorly written book I have ever come across - and I read a lot. Life is too short to waste on writing like this: unless you're a high school teacher grading a junior history essay.
Rating: - Mixed Feelings about this book
Norman Cantor's "In the Wake of the Plague" is rather an interesting read yet my feelings on this were mixed. With only ten chapters and roughly 220 pages, this book can be a useful work for the study of the Black Death due to its use of secondary researches and bibliography. However, it seems to be a bit unreadable and rather a subjective written.
While I was intrigued with his use of secondary sources and his discussion in "Knowing About the Black Death" section, I was rather put off or ... Read More
Rating: - Disappointing
I really wanted to like this book. I haven't read much on the Middle Ages or the Plague other than in world history survey classes. So, I checked the author's credentials before purchasing this book. After reading that Cantor was a leading authority on the subject, I expected a good read. What I got was an argument that never quite developed. He begins by arguing that the Plague, in England at least had little to do with rats. He argues that cattle farming resulted in an outbreak of anthrax deaths. ... Read More
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