--- product_id: 4045982 title: "- The Great Mortality: An Intimate History of the Black Death, the Most Devastating Plague of All Time" price: "113.55 DT" currency: TND in_stock: true reviews_count: 13 url: https://www.desertcart.tn/products/4045982-the-great-mortality-an-intimate-history-of-the-black-death store_origin: TN region: Tunisia --- # - The Great Mortality: An Intimate History of the Black Death, the Most Devastating Plague of All Time **Price:** 113.55 DT **Availability:** ✅ In Stock ## Quick Answers - **What is this?** - The Great Mortality: An Intimate History of the Black Death, the Most Devastating Plague of All Time - **How much does it cost?** 113.55 DT with free shipping - **Is it available?** Yes, in stock and ready to ship - **Where can I buy it?** [www.desertcart.tn](https://www.desertcart.tn/products/4045982-the-great-mortality-an-intimate-history-of-the-black-death) ## Best For - Customers looking for quality international products ## Why This Product - Free international shipping included - Worldwide delivery with tracking - 15-day hassle-free returns ## Description “Powerful, rich with details, moving, humane, and full of important lessons for an age when weapons of mass destruction are loose among us.” ― Richard Rhodes, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Making of the Atomic Bomb The Great Plague is one of the most compelling events in human history―even more so now, when the notion of plague has never loomed larger as a contemporary public concern. The plague that devastated Asia and Europe in the 14th century has been of never-ending interest to both scholarly and general readers. Many books on the medieval plague rely on statistics to tell the story: how many people died; how farm output and trade declined. But statistics can’t convey what it was like to sit in Siena or Avignon and hear that a thousand people a day are dying two towns away. Or to have to chose between your own life and your duty to a mortally ill child or spouse. Or to live in a society where the bonds of blood and sentiment and law have lost all meaning, where anyone can murder or rape or plunder anyone else without fear of consequence. In this compelling work of narrative history, The Great Mortality , author John Kelly lends an air of immediacy and intimacy to his telling of the journey of the plague as it traveled from the steppes of Russia, across Europe, and into England, killing 75 million people―one third of the known population―before it vanished. This intimate narrative history of the Black Death explores: An Intimate History: Go beyond cold statistics to discover what it was like for individuals to hear that a thousand people a day were dying two towns away, forcing them to choose between their own lives and their duty to a mortally ill child or spouse. The Spread of a Pandemic: Follow the relentless journey of the bubonic plague as it traveled from the steppes of Russia, across the devastated landscapes of 14th-century Europe, and into England. Societal Collapse: Witness a world where the bonds of blood, sentiment, and law lost all meaning, and anyone could act without fear of consequence. A Warning From the Past: Understand the full story of the most compelling event in human history, which killed 75 million people and holds important lessons for our own time. Review: Good Read - The book made me realize the history is not just a series of events that happened in the past, but historical data and records of humans of those days. From this book, I learned how savage humans were, as well as the Plague itself. This book talks about the plague vector - largely accepted and also different views, how medieval people reacted toward the Plague, and post-plague effects to the society and economics in medieval age. The book is good, yet why the author spells a tarbagan tarabagan? The real name of this rat is TARBAGAN not TARABAGAN. Medieval age was not so advanced in science as it is in the 21st Century, so the ways they reacted to the disease and thought the cause of the disease were not scientific, but superstitious and unreasonable - astrologically ill alignment, punishment by God, bad air, and well-poisoning by Jews/Lepers/Muslims, etc. Author talks about Flagellants. This reminded me of the Shakespeare's Julius Caesar, when Caesar asked Antony to whip to get his wife's sterile curse off. Anyway, I enjoyed reading. A nice book! Review: Great, well-written overview of the Black Death - I love to read nonfiction; popular history and science books tend to be my favorite genres. I don’t need to be spoon-fed the material, but I enjoy books that are more for the average person and are not overly technical or for scholars only. Not being an expert on infectious disease or Middle Age history, I can only comment on a book like this from the perspective of a general reader. And I can say that as soon as I picked up this book I was riveted and drawn into the story. I knew vaguely of the medieval plague but high school was a distant memory. The Great Mortality provided a well-paced chronicle of the course, spread and consequences of the disease as it ravaged Europe. Also, there seemed to be a fair amount of detail from primary / contemporary sources cited to shed light on what daily life was like at the time; how it impacted families, villages, cities and kingdoms. Despite dealing with one of the most horrific events in human history, there was actually enough humanity and even, at times, dry wit to make this (dare I say) a pleasant read. In short, I found this to be a very approachable, easy to read overview of the Black Death. I highly recommend this book. ## Technical Specifications | Specification | Value | |---------------|-------| | Best Sellers Rank | #70,775 in Books ( See Top 100 in Books ) #3 in Viral Diseases (Books) #26 in Communicable Diseases (Books) #58 in History of Medicine (Books) | | Customer Reviews | 4.5 out of 5 stars 1,731 Reviews | ## Images ![- The Great Mortality: An Intimate History of the Black Death, the Most Devastating Plague of All Time - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/71oib5leOBL.jpg) ## Customer Reviews ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Good Read *by H***T on August 1, 2024* The book made me realize the history is not just a series of events that happened in the past, but historical data and records of humans of those days. From this book, I learned how savage humans were, as well as the Plague itself. This book talks about the plague vector - largely accepted and also different views, how medieval people reacted toward the Plague, and post-plague effects to the society and economics in medieval age. The book is good, yet why the author spells a tarbagan tarabagan? The real name of this rat is TARBAGAN not TARABAGAN. Medieval age was not so advanced in science as it is in the 21st Century, so the ways they reacted to the disease and thought the cause of the disease were not scientific, but superstitious and unreasonable - astrologically ill alignment, punishment by God, bad air, and well-poisoning by Jews/Lepers/Muslims, etc. Author talks about Flagellants. This reminded me of the Shakespeare's Julius Caesar, when Caesar asked Antony to whip to get his wife's sterile curse off. Anyway, I enjoyed reading. A nice book! ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Great, well-written overview of the Black Death *by J***4 on April 18, 2020* I love to read nonfiction; popular history and science books tend to be my favorite genres. I don’t need to be spoon-fed the material, but I enjoy books that are more for the average person and are not overly technical or for scholars only. Not being an expert on infectious disease or Middle Age history, I can only comment on a book like this from the perspective of a general reader. And I can say that as soon as I picked up this book I was riveted and drawn into the story. I knew vaguely of the medieval plague but high school was a distant memory. The Great Mortality provided a well-paced chronicle of the course, spread and consequences of the disease as it ravaged Europe. Also, there seemed to be a fair amount of detail from primary / contemporary sources cited to shed light on what daily life was like at the time; how it impacted families, villages, cities and kingdoms. Despite dealing with one of the most horrific events in human history, there was actually enough humanity and even, at times, dry wit to make this (dare I say) a pleasant read. In short, I found this to be a very approachable, easy to read overview of the Black Death. I highly recommend this book. ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Interesting, With a Few Flaws *by R***T on August 7, 2025* The Great Mortality is a quick, engaging read; a narrative of the plague that struck Europe in the 1340s. It provides a story-teller's version of the origins of the disease in rodent populations in Central Asia, its trajectory to Europe, from the Black Sea into Italy, and then provides narrative snapshots of several regions - Italy, France, England - explaining how the plague impacted each society in turn. Its style is docudrama, with stories of people from nobility to commoner weaved together to build an overall picture of the devastating effects of the plague on people, society and history. The book is interesting and informative and worth a read, however it does have some defects. The first and worst is the repeated references to Norman Cantor's book "in the Wake of the Plague". Surely Kelly, who has done tremendous research, knows that Cantor's book is completely discredited and largely falsified. It undermines Kelly's own work that rather than expose Cantor's flaws, he cites them as though they are trustworthy. A minor quibble is Kelly's calling it the "Norwegian rat", when it is the Norway rat. The other regrettable aspect is the tone -- Kelly makes a meal out of personifying the plague, telling us that it is sometimes exhausted or eager or camps out or slithers into a new town. Its a useful effect when used once or twice, but the author's insistence on this effect becomes increasingly cringy as the book goes on. Perhaps a good editor can clean that up in future editions. Overall this is a good book, quick and informative and mercifully free of self-referential academic fetishes. The narrator is excellent, expressive and careful. Worth a listen. --- ## Why Shop on Desertcart? - 🛒 **Trusted by 1.3+ Million Shoppers** — Serving international shoppers since 2016 - 🌍 **Shop Globally** — Access 737+ million products across 21 categories - 💰 **No Hidden Fees** — All customs, duties, and taxes included in the price - 🔄 **15-Day Free Returns** — Hassle-free returns (30 days for PRO members) - 🔒 **Secure Payments** — Trusted payment options with buyer protection - ⭐ **TrustPilot Rated 4.5/5** — Based on 8,000+ happy customer reviews **Shop now:** [https://www.desertcart.tn/products/4045982-the-great-mortality-an-intimate-history-of-the-black-death](https://www.desertcart.tn/products/4045982-the-great-mortality-an-intimate-history-of-the-black-death) --- *Product available on Desertcart Tunisia* *Store origin: TN* *Last updated: 2026-08-21*