{"product_id":"9780593129166","title":"The Black Death","description":"\u003cb\u003e“A magisterial history” (\u003ci\u003eThe Guardian\u003c\/i\u003e) of humanity’s greatest natural disaster—the Black Death—that reveals the true global impact and terrible human cost of this calamity, from the renowned author of\u003ci\u003e The Crusades\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eThe Greatest Knight.\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e“Terrific—and truly terrifying. Thomas Asbridge puts a human face—or rather multiple faces—on the Black Death.”—Eric Cline, author of \u003ci\u003e1177 B.C.\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn the mid-fourteenth century, a lethal plague struck the medieval world, causing unimaginable suffering and destruction. The Black Death was unquestionably one of history’s defining episodes, yet a critical feature of its progress has often been ignored: the disease was not confined to Europe, but rather affected almost all of the known world, including the Near and Middle East, Byzantium, north Africa and Asia.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eTracing the pandemic’s course across the medieval globe, \u003ci\u003eThe Black Death\u003c\/i\u003e contrasts the experiences of different peoples, including Christians, Muslims, and Jews, charting this catastrophe’s transformative effects on diverse aspects of medieval life. And crucially, Asbridge demonstrates that the plague was often at its most destructive in the Islamic world, where it ultimately played a role in the collapse of the mighty Mamluk Empire.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Black Death\u003c\/i\u003e also brings the human drama of this calamitous era to life, evoking the terror and the turmoil that beset cities such as London, Cairo, and Florence. Asbridge reconstructs the lives of the men, women and children who faced the Black Death—from ruling monarchs to peasant farmers—laying bare both the abject horror they endured and the courageous resolve they often demonstrated while striving to survive.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eUncovering a story that speaks to our own age, \u003ci\u003eThe Black Death\u003c\/i\u003e highlights humankind’s capacity for compassion and resilience amidst a global crisis to explain how the medieval world confronted, and ultimately overcame, this shattering pandemic.","brand":"Thomas Asbridge","offers":[{"title":"Hardback","offer_id":46850918023356,"sku":"9780593129166","price":51.0,"currency_code":"CAD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0694\/8559\/2764\/files\/BNCImageAPI_e875f588-0e30-4755-9428-e455d5c45a4a.jpg?v=1779375158","url":"https:\/\/wordsquirrelbooks.com\/products\/9780593129166","provider":"Word Squirrel Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}