Plague, the epidemic disease whose ravages are the subject of this book, originally published in 1985, was both a personal affliction and a social calamity. It regularly decimated urban populations and totally disrupted social, economic and even political life. Paul Slack discusses the stresses which plague imposed on individuals, families and communities, and the ways in which people tried to explain, control and come to terms with it. The book also discusses contemporary attitudes to plague, as seen in the literature of the time, the chronology of the epidemics, the intensity of the different outbreaks and the measures taken centrally and locally to arrest the spread of infection. The impact of plague in the cities of Norwich, Bristol, Exeter and London is discussed and the author shows how the incidence of the disease was influenced by environmental and social conditions; and how the nature of plague in turn helped to shape reactions to it.

This compelling study of the plagues’ impacts throws light on many areas of social history, including religious and scientific assumptions, the social policies and aspirations of government, the problems of urban administration and the nature of popular and crowd behaviour – all issues which were pertinent centuries later during the Covid epidemic.