“The Black Death”
By Diane Zahler.
Twenty-First Century Books, Minneapolis, 2009, 160 pages, Grades 7-10.
The coronavirus pandemic has harmed many nations and overwhelmed medical resources throughout the world. As of this writing, more than 830,000 Americans have died of COVID-19. The recent omicron variant continues to bring societies to their knees.
All pandemics have two basic parts. First, how contagious is the virus? Second, what is the level of lethality? The omicron variant seems to be highly contagious but has less lethality. This means that more people can catch the disease but less, proportionally, will die from the virus. But what happens if the virus has high contagion and lethal virulence? This leads to a deadly catastrophe.
In 1348, Europe will have such a horrific pandemic. Diane Zahler writes a highly readable and interesting account of this tragic time. It is appropriately named “The Black Death.”
Frightful rumors enter Europe prior to 1348. Unbelievable stories of gigantic losses of life in China and Europe are reported. Entire villages are obliterated by some strange illness.
How is this possible? After a siege of a Genoan fort near city of Caffa on the Black Sea, Europe finds out. The Mongol besiegers get bubonic plague while trying to conquer the town. Using catapults, they hurl the dead, deceased bodies of their comrades over the walls. The Italians quickly throw the dead corpses into the sea, but not before getting the plague themselves. Fleeing Caffa, they return to Italy and quickly contaminate Genoa. Expelled from the city, they sail down the Italian coast trying to find a safe spot and consequently spread the disease. Soon bubonic plague overruns Italy and spreads to the rest of Europe.
The filth of European cities contributes to the rapid spread of the disease. The people suffer and die in large numbers from plague. Since the lymph glands filter poisons in the body, they soon become enlarged and swollen. Many times the glands break under the skin and look black. This is likely why plague will be known as the Black Death.
Not knowing how to fight the disease, people believe that bad air, planet misalignment, and witches flying through the air at night are causing the disease. They try many types of proposed cures, such as the use of toads and frogs to cure the sickness. Eventually, doctors understand that coughing and spitting up blood transfers the disease. The coughing is actually pneumonic plague and has nearly a 100% fatality rate. It is both very contagious and deadly.
Eventually, people look for scapegoats for the Black Death. Jews in particular are singled out and hundreds of Jewish towns are burned and destroyed along with their inhabitants. The Black Death burns itself out after 1352 as a pandemic, but returns a number of times in European history.
Zahler tells the story of the Black Death with great detail and precision. Her charts and graphs are filled with important information. The book is very interesting to read. (If it is possible to say reading about the Black Death is interesting.)
Most of the fears and reactions from public agencies during the current COVID-19 pandemic have eerie predecessors in the Black Death. Seventh graders and older will find this book very useful in understanding our present situation.
As an elementary school librarian for 9.5 years, I never fully realized when I heard those third grade girls jumping rope singing, “Ring around the Rosie, (the bursting lymph glands), Pocket full of Posies (bouquet of flowers to cover of the stench of disease), Ashes to Ashes, We all Fall Down” (huge number of deaths) was a literal description of what happens with plague. This book is a significant contribution to understanding pandemics and public health. It can be found in many public libraries. Highly recommended.
