Customer Reviews
Well researched account of a horrifying time - By: tybalt-quin, 02 Aug 2008 
John Kelly has produced a comprehensive, well-researched account of the Black Death from its origins on the plains of Samarkand to its domination of Europe & eventual recession that is by-turns harrowing, humane & always fascinating.
He's clearly done a lot of work looking at both source material & modern articles (the end notes run to over 30 pages) that attempt to explain why the Black Death was so virulent & so devastating, but isn't afraid to insert his own opinion. Particularly interesting was his description of the different types of plague & how it is communicated (which, as a non-scientist, I found lucid & easy to follow). His final chapter draws out some of the current arguments being made that the Black Death was actuallly a strain of Ebola & although I would have liked this to be a little more in-depth, he deals with the arguments for & against in a succinct manner.
In terms of social history, there's a great deal to be taken from this book, including aspects of diet & housing but also some of the politics & every-day attitudes. One chapter focuses on anti-Semitism & how it increased as a result of the Black Death & although it makes for very uncomfortable reading, it helps to explain the roots of anti-Semitism that are still felt to this day.
My only complaint is that sometimes Kelly lets his imagination get the better of him. There are a couple of instances where he suggests how a particular chronicler may have felt or behaved that seem to bear no relation to the text & which detract from the chronicler's own words. Apart from this however, I reallly enjoyed the book & would have no hesitation recommending it to people interested in the period or subject matter.
A Look at a Pandemic - By: M. A. Ramos, 19 Nov 2007 
The author uses fourteenth-century records to document the epidemic that swept through Eurasia & into Europe. This pandemic killed a third of the population in Europe as well as its livestock. John Kelly does a good job at describing daily life, steps taken to avoid contagion, the rise of anti-Semitism, & the social & economic effects of the catastrophic loss of life in Europe. I would have liked to see a little more information on the effects on Asia itself, though I did apreciate the footnote about China. Other than that this was a fine a read as a book on such a subject can be.
Interesting - By: R. Barlow, 07 Jun 2007 An easy read, strange as that is for a book about the Black Death, The Great Mortality is a well-researched history-travelogue hybrid, with some interesting asides like the effect of plague on the Jewish population & city relations, as well as outlining the debate on plauge/anthrax viruses. It must be treated as a 'hobby' book, rather than a serious text for use in degree work etc, as it does cater for morons like me who read it for fun. The fiction does creep in, with the slightly annoying 'sunsets on a field of gold' twaddle, but it saves it from being a morbid account & makes it intimate. Hats off to John Kelly for giving alll the facts, plus a few superfluous ones, without sounding like an especiallly boring History teacher.
Very good research, slightly let down by delivery - By: John Hopper, 23 Jan 2007 On the plus side, this was an interesting & obviously well researched history of the Black Death, being particularly strong on the scientific background & origins of the plague bacillus. On the minus side, the author's journalistic use of overly colourful & sometimes anachronistic phrases & putting imaginary words & actions into the mouths & hands of persons grated rather on me. Also in places I felt he digressed a little too far from the main narrative into interesting but not directly relevant (at least not in so much detail) historical developments. Overalll though, well worth reading.
