Plague, pestilence and pandemic : voices from history

2022

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Summary

When the great Muslim traveller Ibn Battuta visited Damascus in 1348 it was in the throes of a great plague which killed half of the population. Even so, he reported 'God lightened their affliction; for the number of deaths in a single day at Damascus did not attain 2000, while in Cairo it reached the figure of 24,000 a day'. Humankind has always struggled with illness and the experiences of different cities and countries have been compared and connected for thousands of years. Plague, pestilence, and pandemics have been part of the human story through the ages and have been reflected on at every turn. Many great authors have left us their eyewitness accounts or survivor stories. From the plagues of ancient Egypt recorded in Genesis to the Black Death that ravaged Europe in the Middle Ages to COVID-19, this anthology contains intimate, revelatory accounts.