Описание книги
About the product Groundbreaking research at the intersection of history and biology about the worst pandemic in human history: the plague that killed a third of the world’s population — 75 million people. An epic saga, where the latest scientific evidence is combined with historical chronicles, diaries and annals “Some of the dead were so poorly covered that the dogs pulled out and gnawed their bodies, spreading the remains throughout the city. And, believing that this was the end of the world, no one wept for the dead — everyone expected death. ”- Agnolo di Tura, Siena, 1348. In just 1000 days from 1347 to 1351, the plague swept through medieval Europe, taking away a third of its population. It was a catastrophe that touched the life of every person. The deadly virus moved across the continent at such a speed that medieval doctors were convinced that the disease «spreads through sight.» Historian John Kelly offers an innovative, intimate look at the history of the Black Death. Combining the latest scientific data on the origin and spread of the plague with the historical chronicles and diaries of ordinary people, he recreates the atmosphere of disaster in plague-ridden cities. “The eerie scenes described in the book seem to have descended from the paintings of the triptych“ The Last Judgment ”by Bosch: dusty roads along which terrified refugees, dogs and rats wander, running along deserted streets, covered with morbid madness, fields strewn with dead bodies. John Kelly offers the reader a ruthless, extremely frank description of the terrible and devastating consequences of the plague. » .— The Independent Abstract «The Great Pestilence,» la moria grandissima, began its horrific journey across the continent in 1347, leaving unimaginable destruction in its wake and killing 75 million people — a third of the world’s population at the time. Drawing on numerous historical sources, historian John Kelly talks about the plague, which later became known as the Black Death, in an innovative manner — through the eyes of its eyewitnesses. How does it feel to sit and wait for the inevitable, knowing that a thousand people are dying a day in the neighboring city? Choosing between your own life and your duty to a terminally ill child or spouse? To live in a disintegrating society, where the bonds of family and law have lost all meaning, where everyone can kill, rape and rob without fear of consequences? The Black Death is an extraordinary epic tale of the worst natural disaster in European history: the drama of courage, cowardice, suffering, madness and self-sacrifice that accompanied the collapse of the old world. This book clearly shows the destruction caused by a pandemic if humanity does not have the strength and knowledge to resist it. …
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