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

$38.00

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

Name: The Black Death: A Global History of Humanity's Most Devastating Pandemic - Hardcover
Brand: BooksCloud
SKU: 9780593129166
Price: 38.00 USD
Availability: InStock

by Thomas Asbridge

$38.00

Book Overview

"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.

ISBN	9780593129166
Author	Thomas Asbridge
Publisher	Random House
Genre	History and Education
Format	Hardcover
Published	May 2026
Language	ENG- English
Pages	544
Weight	1.0 lb
Target Audience	Adults
Print Size	Standard Print

1% fer Each of the Seven Seas

Every purchase sends 7% of our profits to The Ocean Cleanup. No fine print, no opt-in — just how we sail.

Whoever Ye Be, Welcome Aboard

Queer lit, music, art, philosophy, fiction — stories for every kind of soul. Come as ye are, matey.

More by Thomas Asbridge

The Greatest Knight: The Remarkable Life of William Marshal, the Power Behind Five English Thrones - Paperback

By Thomas Asbridge