Paul Slack (1) (1943–)

This already short introduction tries to straddle a number of topics from literary criticism to the medical research on historical plagues and the (updated second edition just in time to sell more books) Covid pandemic research angle. It doesn't quite come together, especially since the fundamental answers given surrounding historical plagues is "we don't really know" in most cases.

Great Courses have some worthwhile alternatives; The Black Death: New Lessons from Recent Research covers what show more you'd expected this one to, but zoomed in to focus on the plague. After The Plague takes the literary criticism angle. The narrower focus on these two doesn't really end up mattering as they also cover other plagues, of which we know less - much like the VSI book attempted to do. show less

Very short but interesting and well written book about the 3 major outbreaks of plague - Justinian's Plague, the Black Death and the Plague in China. This is mostly a social/historical account of the plague, with almost no scientific information.