The Black Death: An Intimate History
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Review
a gripping read -- part historical inquiry, part novel (INDEPENDENT )
This totally absorbing book presents the best account ever written about the worst event to have ever befallen the British Isles (Simon Winchester )
The author is praised as a masterly social historian and the book as colourful as an episode of Midsomer Murders (FINANCIAL TIMES )
Conveys with great effectiveness the intensity of medieval English devotions and their deep preoccupation with the business of dying. Reading this book I was reminded time and again of the Tibetan Book of the Dead (Will Self EVENING STANDARD )
John Hatcher, a distinguished economic historian, sets out to attempt something new: the describe the plague in terms of one of these hard-hit communities... more than most of the purely historical accounts have given us (LITERARY REVIEW )
the sense of creeping doom, panic and rampant superstition is conveyed with a novelist's skill (GUARDIAN )
A compelling tale of ordinary people faced with a horror beyond imagining (SUNDAY BUSINESS POST )
This totally absorbing book presents the best account ever written about the worst event to have ever befallen the British Isles (Simon Winchester )
The author is praised as a masterly social historian and the book as colourful as an episode of Midsomer Murders (FINANCIAL TIMES )
Conveys with great effectiveness the intensity of medieval English devotions and their deep preoccupation with the business of dying. Reading this book I was reminded time and again of the Tibetan Book of the Dead (Will Self EVENING STANDARD )
John Hatcher, a distinguished economic historian, sets out to attempt something new: the describe the plague in terms of one of these hard-hit communities... more than most of the purely historical accounts have given us (LITERARY REVIEW )
the sense of creeping doom, panic and rampant superstition is conveyed with a novelist's skill (GUARDIAN )
A compelling tale of ordinary people faced with a horror beyond imagining (SUNDAY BUSINESS POST )
Book Description
How the people of a typical English village lived and died in the worst epidemic in history.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
19 of 20 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Let me say straight away that I thoroughly enjoyed both the book and the scholarship behind it, and would recommend it highly. My criticisms will, therefore, seem like nit-picking, and they probably are just that.
I read this just after finishing reading Benedict Gummer's "The Scourging Angel", because I wanted to put some human detail onto the story that Gummer's immense tome examines. I like the style that Hatcher has employed; I like being able to see the events unfold through the medium of real people: empathy is a vital part of the historian's armoury, but very difficult to deploy accurately.
I'm just not sure whether Hatcher succeeds totally. We are introduced to many of the inhabitants of Walsham, but I don't think that, in the end, we are exposed totally to their feelings. If it is to work, the docu-drama method needs to be developed fully and I get the impression that, at times, Hatcher baulked at reflecting the hideously harrowing nature of the events of those dreadful months for the people who lived and died. Even the central character, the priest, is not allowed fully to express his thoughts, either to the people of the time or to us, his observers.
By comparison, Philip Ziegler, in one chapter of his "The Black Death" (nearly 40 years ago now), got to grips with the feelings and emotions of a typical set of villagers. I was hoping Hatcher would match that, and for me, he didn't. Despite his achieving a beautifully-detailed picture of the period, I was left wanting more depth.
As for the nit-picking, I wish his proof-readers would have picked up his misuse of "less" when he meant "fewer", on numerous occasions. And I also wish editors and publishers would realise that they don't HAVE to use the expression "The Black Death" to describe these events. It is not a matter of political correctness gone mad: that expression dates to the early 19th Century at the earliest and is thus singularly inappropriate for a book that is attempting to see events through the eyes of people living at the time.
Four stars or five? Does it matter? It's well worth the reading.
I read this just after finishing reading Benedict Gummer's "The Scourging Angel", because I wanted to put some human detail onto the story that Gummer's immense tome examines. I like the style that Hatcher has employed; I like being able to see the events unfold through the medium of real people: empathy is a vital part of the historian's armoury, but very difficult to deploy accurately.
I'm just not sure whether Hatcher succeeds totally. We are introduced to many of the inhabitants of Walsham, but I don't think that, in the end, we are exposed totally to their feelings. If it is to work, the docu-drama method needs to be developed fully and I get the impression that, at times, Hatcher baulked at reflecting the hideously harrowing nature of the events of those dreadful months for the people who lived and died. Even the central character, the priest, is not allowed fully to express his thoughts, either to the people of the time or to us, his observers.
By comparison, Philip Ziegler, in one chapter of his "The Black Death" (nearly 40 years ago now), got to grips with the feelings and emotions of a typical set of villagers. I was hoping Hatcher would match that, and for me, he didn't. Despite his achieving a beautifully-detailed picture of the period, I was left wanting more depth.
As for the nit-picking, I wish his proof-readers would have picked up his misuse of "less" when he meant "fewer", on numerous occasions. And I also wish editors and publishers would realise that they don't HAVE to use the expression "The Black Death" to describe these events. It is not a matter of political correctness gone mad: that expression dates to the early 19th Century at the earliest and is thus singularly inappropriate for a book that is attempting to see events through the eyes of people living at the time.
Four stars or five? Does it matter? It's well worth the reading.
8 of 9 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This well researched and fascinating account of the "Black Death" had me gripped. The mixture of fact and fiction worked well. The characters were entirely believable and the sense of place was strong. The priest caring for the sufferers was sympathetically portrayed and the importance of religion emphasized. I knew the effects of the shortage of workers following the plague, but probably had not realised what a hold the feudal system had on the poor. I had not previously read much about this time and it was brought to life with great detail and without sentimentality.
Format:Paperback
I am puzzled by the many reviews that point to this book being "well-written". The concept is good. The material on which Hatcher draws is undoubtedly strong, and it is hugely informative. With judicious editing this could have been a truly remarkable book. But as it stands it is hugely repetitive to the point of being laborious at times. Hatcher introduces historical fact and source material in the preamble to each chapter. This is obviously a valid device to establish authenticity and academic rigour in the research. But rather than using this to provide a contextual understanding, he often repeats whole passages of this (only slightly altered) in the following novelisation. I found myself reading bits while realising I had read almost exactly the same only a few pages earlier. A book with all this strong material could have been half its length and very much more effective for being so.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Enjoyable time travelling (with no risk of infection)
God has sent a terrible pestilence that is laying waste to mainland Europe and is rumoured, by the villagers of Walsham in Suffolk, to be headed towards England. Read more
Published 3 months ago by Vic Templar
The Black Death : An Intimate History
This excellent book is a creative reconstruction of a village in crisis, from 1345 - 1350. The author chose the village of Walsham (now Walsham-le-Willows) in North West Suffolk,... Read more
Published 8 months ago by S Riaz
Black Death
A really good read, love the novelised way of writing history. A recommended text for a study course, but also a good story that tells it like is was.
Published 10 months ago by Assmin
sombre reading
Very sombre and heart-wrenching semi-fictional story - very good though. Enjoyed every page and it really puts you in the village during this terrible time in history. Read more
Published 17 months ago by D. Cook
Gripping and informative
John Hatcher has produced a wonderful book. It is not always easy to get the balance between fact and fiction, especially during a time when little outside official business was... Read more
Published 17 months ago by Martin Williams
Engaging Accessible and wonderfully written
This is a perfect balance between an informative book and a novel. The author sets out his intention and fulfils it perfectly. Read more
Published 22 months ago by Pippa.C.Payne
Good but not great
This is a good book, which rattled along and - by and large - worked in its docu-drama format. The descriptions of how the plague(s) destroyed families and led to unprecedented... Read more
Published 23 months ago by D. Spencer
Excellent book!
I thoroughly enjoyed this very well written book. Although the story itself looses a bit of impetus towards the end, the historical content has obviously been very well researched... Read more
Published on 21 April 2010 by Catherine Earnshaw
Not that easy to read....
Was after an informative to book to help my 11 yr old with a school project. It was difficult to ascertain from the reviews which books were going to be aimed at a teenage... Read more
Published on 1 April 2010 by Mrs. S. Randle
When God thunders, "I'll show YOU!"
"Surely He shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence ... He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under His wings shalt thou trust: His... Read more
Published on 21 Oct 2009 by Joseph Haschka
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