Benedictow, Ole J. The Black Death, 1346–1353: The Complete History. Woodbridge/Suffolk: The Boydell Press, 2004. Pp. xvi; 433.

We already owe six previous volumes on the plague to Benedictow, Professor of History at Oslo University. The thoroughness and precision of his research are admirable, as shown in this 2004 book, which examines the fourteenth-c. plague disaster, its causes, spread, and consequences. Part one defines the plague and the role of rats and fleas; part two examines the spread of the disease throughout Europe; part three investigates patterns and dynamics, while part four gives mortality statistics, and part five shows the plague's impact within world history.

From 1346 to 1353 this epidemic decimated the population in Western Asia, the Middle East, North Africa, and Europe. Knowledge about bacteria and viruses did not exist at that time, and people considered the plague God's punishment for their sins, while learned individuals blamed a conjunction of stars. It was not until the last four decades of the twentieth century that scholars examined further aspects: the demography of cities and countrysides during the medieval plague years and in modern times (India and China); research isolated plague bacteria, also found in dead rats and their fleas, the principal vehicles for the disease's spread.

In the beginning of the malady, one or two buboes (inflamed swellings) appeared in the groin or axilla of the victim (lymph nodes), and death occurred in a few days (or sooner).