28 pages 56 minutes read

The Black Death

Nonfiction | Book | Adult | Published in 1969

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Summary and Study Guide

Overview

First published in 1969 by William Collins Sons & Co., historian Philip Ziegler’s The Black Death is a classic, critically acclaimed text on the history of the devastating epidemic that ravaged medieval Europe. As the author himself notes in the preface: “there may be controversy over its precise significance, [but] no one would today deny that the Black Death was of the greatest economic and social importance as well as hideously dramatic in its progress” (1).

Philip Ziegler is a British historian who served in the British Foreign Service. After his military career, Ziegler published a wide library of histories and biographies, including Duchess of Dino, King William IV, Edward VIII: The Official Biography, and London at War 1939-1945 among many others.

Please note that this text contains antisemitic language, which this guide sometimes quotes as published.

This guide was composed using the illustrated edition of The Black Death published in 1991 by Alan Sutton Publishing.

Summary

The book has three major parts: the origin and basic impact of the plague on Europe as a whole, the impact of the Black Death on England specifically, and an analysis of the overall data along with reflections on the societal consequences following the waning of the plague.

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