Review of
Plague: Stories of Death in the Great
Plague of the 14th Century, written by Kyle Garrett
et. al.
Five out of five stars
“First person” accounts of the great death
The most
conservative estimates are that the so-called “Black Death” that invaded Europe
in the 14th century killed one-fourth of the population. Death was
largely indiscriminate regarding socio-economic status, age and religious
affiliation. The only exception to this was the large numbers of Jews that were
murdered in the fever of belief that they were somehow the cause. The true
cause were the yet unknown species of bacteria.
This comic is
composed of a set of short stories set in the first person of people experiencing
the plague and it consuming those around them and in most cases them as well. The
authors of the stories do a superb job in capturing the despair and hopelessness
the people felt as people continued to die. Many of the dead were buried so hastily
that their graves were shallow enough that dogs and other animals were able to
dig the bodies up and consume them. For many, this was their greatest fear of
what would happen when they died.
The plague
transformed Europe in that it was a great leveler of the social classes, quickly
destroying feudalism and leaving those who survived largely in charge of their
future. Since the clergy proved incapable of having any affect on the great
dying, the power of the Catholic Church was also significantly weakened.
This is an
excellent account of a time when European society was subject to a great
upheaval, changing it forever.
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