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The Black Death

A Personal History

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The Black Death

By: John Hatcher
Narrated by: Geoffrey Centlivre
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About this listen

 In this fresh approach to the history of the Black Death, John Hatcher, a world-renowned scholar of the Middle Ages, recreates everyday life in a mid-14th-century rural English village.

By focusing on the experiences of ordinary villagers as they lived - and died - during the Black Death (A.D. 1345-50), Hatcher vividly places the listener directly into those tumultuous years and describes in fascinating detail the day-to-day existence of people struggling with the tragic effects of the plague. Dramatic scenes portray how contemporaries must have experienced and thought about the momentous events - and how they tried to make sense of it all.

©2009 John Hatcher (P)2009 Audible, Inc. Europe Village Middle Ages

Critic Reviews

"This book uses a bit of fiction, mixing it with [Hatcher's] vast knowledge to illuminate that catastrophe." (Bookviews.com)
"The core of the story - the plague's effect on the lives of everyday people - is as true as can be surmised, nearly 700 years later." ( Cleveland Plain Dealer)
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I thought this would offer a good, historical account of the time of the black death. I hoped for a well-researched account of the immediate effects of the plague on the populace. There should have been more scope for discussions of the longer-term repercussions the plague had on England and how it was changed by the black death.

This was not a good historical account. It was fact hidden by a very poor narrative and an even worse narrator whose dull monotone made it very difficult to get to the end. I did accomplish this heroic effort, but I was left feeling cheated. I would not hesitate to recommend potential purchasers to avoid this audiobook like the plague (apologies for that!) I hope there are better histories of England during the plague years available. Look for them. Do not stop here. Move on.

An interesting concept that did not work

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This book had so much potential. A historian trying to accurately depict what it would have been like living in a village in England during the Black Death, even though there are next to no personal accounts? It sounds awesome. But what it really was, was a historian with no experience writing fiction, trying to write a fiction. And the historical parts are either explicitly told to you out of the story, or they are so vague that you’re left not knowing what is or isn’t historically accurate, apart from the most boring parts. Plus his main protagonist is just annoyingly perfect, I actually hated him so much because of it. What John Hatcher should have done is, found a good fantasy/historical author and worked closely with them to make sure that it was not the pile of garbage that is was. I would rather read a textbook.

Worst combinations of history and fiction

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