In the Wake of the Plague: The Black Death and the World it Made - Rilegato

Cantor, Norman F.

Rilegato

ISBN 10: 0684858576 ISBN 13: 9780684858579

Casa editrice: Simon & Schuster Ltd, 2001

Riassunto

Arguably the greatest biomedical disaster in history, the Black Death of the 14th century wiped out 40 per cent of Europe's population, rocking the sociological, commercial, cultural and religious foundations of medieval civilisation. However, the results are not confined to figures of mass fatality; they extend to the present day. The surviving peasants could claim land for themselves, creating Europe's first class of independent farmers, thus hastening modern capitalism. Powerless in the face of such a disaster, the Catholic Church watched the rise of faith healers. And efforts to block windows and doors against supposedly airborne germs with woven tapestries generated a whole textile industry. Cantor presents an eclectic mix of individuals directly affected by the plague, among them such well-known names as Robin Hood, Richard the Lionheart and the Black Prince; nameless others include mercenaries, mystics, priests and surgeons. The author penetrates a haze of myths to offer the reader a social history, not just of collapse but of rebirth. And underlying it all is an interrogation of the medical facts. Was the Black Death some virulent form of anthrax? How closely linked are the plague and the 1918 flu pandemic? Or might it be something closer to Mad Cow disease? Cantor undermines the confidence we have in our world, doused in disinfectant and dosed with antibiotics, and challenges us with the question: can we be sure the Black Death is extinct - or is it just dormant?

Su questo libro

Recensione

'The best book on the Black Death, not just because it's up-to-date with recent science and scholarship, but also because of Cantor's trenchancy, economy, discrimination and black humour. IN THE WAKE OF PLAGUE combines human scale with immense range. It is a work of light and shadow: illuminating the past and minatory about the future'
Felipe Fernandez-Armesto, author of MILLENNIUM: A HISTORY OF THE LAST THOUSAND YEARS
'In Norman Cantor, I have found the perfect historian. His books are wondrously rich, yet immensely readable. He sounds the depths of Medieval history for truths that are always relevant to our times. His new book is a cause for celebration'
Anne Rice
'Lucid and riveting' GLASGOW HERALD
'Readable and scholarly history' DAILY TELEGRAPH
'Short, vividly-written history' BIRMINGHAM POST
'Good fun ... Cantor's tone is perfect for a book which is more about the rebirth of society following its almost total collapse. He brings life to death, and creates an immensely readable book with rich language and human sensitivity ... Even if you aren't a historian it is worth a read as a story of days gone by alone' SOUTH WALES ARGUS
'Fascinating reading on htei mmediate and longer-term social and cultural effects of the Black Death' Robert Rietz, MD, MBA, PhD, South Dakota State University, JAMA

L'autore

Norman Cantor is Professor of History, Sociology and Comparative Literature at New York University and is America's leading historian of the Middle Ages.

Su questa edizione

• Editore: Simon & Schuster Ltd
• Data di pubblicazione: 2001
• ISBN 10: 0684858576
• ISBN 13: 9780684858579
• Rilegatura: Copertina rigida
• Numero di pagine: 240