The Black Death - Sean Martin

Martin looks at the origins of the disease and traces its terrible march through Europe from the Italianate cities to far-flung corners of Scandinavia. He describes contemporary responses to the plague and makes clear how helpless was the medicine of the day in the face of it. He examines the renewed persecution of the Jews, blamed by many Christians for the spread of the disease, and highlights the bizarre attempts by groups like the Flagellants to ward off what they saw as the wrath of God. A vivid and dramatic account of one of the great catastrophes of history.