The Great Mortality: An Intimate History of the Black Death, the Most Devastating Plague of All Time
http://www.100md.com
《新英格兰医药杂志》
This is the true story of a killer. In the mid-14th century, a killer emerged from central Asia and moved westward into the cities of Mediterranean Europe. Over less than five years, in an era in which the fastest means of transportation was a horse, the killer embraced all of Europe, from the Mediterranean to the North Atlantic and the British Isles to Russia. More than one third of the population of Europe died, and, as a result, European society was profoundly changed. The invader was not a human army — it was the microbe Yersinia pestis.
Although echoes of those events are still with us, few today consider or have any concept of the effect that an epidemic infectious disease such as plague can have on a society. John Kelly has written a compelling history of the sweep of Y. pestis across Europe. The Great Mortality reads like a novel — a war novel. It is not a novel, however. It is a history that is extremely well researched and well written.
The book details the changes caused by the Black Death and how they altered the course of history. Kelly paints a picture of life in plague times, giving details about European culture and about how the people affected by plague lived and died. He provides the reader with a clear understanding of how the killer contagion moved across Europe — without respect for age, sex, or social status — and how people reacted. He also outlines the medical theories and thoughts of the times and the ways in which members of the medical profession responded to this unknown killer that they could not control.
Although this is a book about the past, how plague affected Europe and how society recovered from this apocalypse have considerable implications in our troubled times, when the term "weapons of mass destruction" has real meaning. Western society is getting older and, as Kelly points out, "Post–Black Death society was also an old society." There were not enough young adults to tend the infrastructure, and thus, "there were hulking pockets of survivors surrounded by untended fields, unmended fences, . . . over everything was the oppressive sound of silence." In the 1950s, Cold War planners used the Black Death as a model of how a society deals with and recovers from an attack by a weapon of mass destruction such as a nuclear bomb.
Understanding the past can help us plan for the future. The former Soviet Union's biologic-warfare program chose Y. pestis as one of its principal weapons. Soviet scientists put a great deal of effort into weaponizing plague, and they produced tons of aerosolizable weapons-grade Y. pestis. Such knowledge certainly did not disappear with the breakup of the Soviet Union. Also, some strains of Y. pestis are naturally resistant to antibiotics.
Could the Black Death happen again? Although there is no antiplague vaccine approved by the Food and Drug Administration nor have any U.S. allies approved such a vaccine, an outbreak — even one of antibiotic-resistant Y. pestis — could be contained with appropriate public health measures. Containment would require knowledgeable medical professionals, however.
This book will appeal to a wide audience, from people with an interest in the history of infectious disease to those who like reading historical novels. The truth is stranger and frequently more interesting than fiction. The only objections some readers might have about this book are that because John Kelly is not a medical writer, he misuses some medical terms, and that he has written the book in the style of a war novel, with Y. pestis portrayed as an invading army. I did not find these features to be drawbacks, however. I enjoyed and learned from this book. This is a book worth reading.
Raymond J. Dattwyler, M.D.
New York Medical College
Valhalla, NY 10595
raymond_dattwyler@nymc.edu(By John Kelly. 364 pp. Ne)
Although echoes of those events are still with us, few today consider or have any concept of the effect that an epidemic infectious disease such as plague can have on a society. John Kelly has written a compelling history of the sweep of Y. pestis across Europe. The Great Mortality reads like a novel — a war novel. It is not a novel, however. It is a history that is extremely well researched and well written.
The book details the changes caused by the Black Death and how they altered the course of history. Kelly paints a picture of life in plague times, giving details about European culture and about how the people affected by plague lived and died. He provides the reader with a clear understanding of how the killer contagion moved across Europe — without respect for age, sex, or social status — and how people reacted. He also outlines the medical theories and thoughts of the times and the ways in which members of the medical profession responded to this unknown killer that they could not control.
Although this is a book about the past, how plague affected Europe and how society recovered from this apocalypse have considerable implications in our troubled times, when the term "weapons of mass destruction" has real meaning. Western society is getting older and, as Kelly points out, "Post–Black Death society was also an old society." There were not enough young adults to tend the infrastructure, and thus, "there were hulking pockets of survivors surrounded by untended fields, unmended fences, . . . over everything was the oppressive sound of silence." In the 1950s, Cold War planners used the Black Death as a model of how a society deals with and recovers from an attack by a weapon of mass destruction such as a nuclear bomb.
Understanding the past can help us plan for the future. The former Soviet Union's biologic-warfare program chose Y. pestis as one of its principal weapons. Soviet scientists put a great deal of effort into weaponizing plague, and they produced tons of aerosolizable weapons-grade Y. pestis. Such knowledge certainly did not disappear with the breakup of the Soviet Union. Also, some strains of Y. pestis are naturally resistant to antibiotics.
Could the Black Death happen again? Although there is no antiplague vaccine approved by the Food and Drug Administration nor have any U.S. allies approved such a vaccine, an outbreak — even one of antibiotic-resistant Y. pestis — could be contained with appropriate public health measures. Containment would require knowledgeable medical professionals, however.
This book will appeal to a wide audience, from people with an interest in the history of infectious disease to those who like reading historical novels. The truth is stranger and frequently more interesting than fiction. The only objections some readers might have about this book are that because John Kelly is not a medical writer, he misuses some medical terms, and that he has written the book in the style of a war novel, with Y. pestis portrayed as an invading army. I did not find these features to be drawbacks, however. I enjoyed and learned from this book. This is a book worth reading.
Raymond J. Dattwyler, M.D.
New York Medical College
Valhalla, NY 10595
raymond_dattwyler@nymc.edu(By John Kelly. 364 pp. Ne)