2.16B Book Review

The Great Mortality by John Kelly

Ok, it's a depressing subject. The Black Death.
This is a book that I've picked up and put down several times, before winding my way to the end. It provided me with a great number of bits of information I hadn't really realized, not having studied this particular part of European history closely before. (Most of my reading has been about pre-1200 times.) The parallels that can be drawn about the economic state of Europe at that time and our current times are somewhat distressing.
The book is quite interesting. I'm sure that some of his conclusions are being (or were) hotly debated by persons whose conclusions he was refuting, but the subject isn't such that I'm really planning on delving into the ifs and ands in depth.

His references to the cultural effects of the Black Death on the arts and the fiber world are some that I'm going to see if I can track down. The book has increased my understanding of the literature of the time and I'm sure some of his insights will help me with the art of the time.

Well worth reading.

(Just in case anyone is wondering: The 50 book challenge, as I have interpreted it, is to read 50 books in a year, books that I have not read before. [I read many more books in a year than 50, but I am trying to expand my horizons beyond the books on my shelf that I read and re-read.] It's halfway through February and I'm now at 2 finished books. I think I'm falling behind this year.)