The Great Plague

The Great Plague of 1665-6 is the best known epidemic in English history. Its sheer scale–100,000 deaths in London out of a population of 500,000–is overwhelming. The Plague is featured in the works of Pepys and Defoe and described in painstaking detail in the contemporary Bills of Mortality. Porter’s book is the only complete modern study of the subject, and he paints a chilling portrait of a society threatened by an uncontrollable disease. THE GREAT PLAGUE looks at all aspects of the epidemic. It describes the disease, gives details of the treatments, and vividly evokes its impact on the country. Highly illustrated, THE GREAT PLAGUE is a well-documented and fascinating account of a devastating epidemic.