Book excerpt: The book opens with an outline of the course of the pandemic, the causes and nature of bubonic plague, and the recent revisionist views of what the Black Death really was. The author presents the phenomenon of plague thematically by focusing on the places where people lived and worked: the home, the church and cemetery, the village, the pest houses, the streets and roads. The book then investigates contemporary theories of the causes of plague, doctors' futile attempts to treat victims, the authorities' vain attempts to prevent the pestilence, and its social impact. The narrative includes vivid examples from across Europe throughout the period, and presents the words of witnesses and victims themselves wherever possible.--From publisher description.