Sign-In
Cart
The Black Death: Plague, Social Upheaval and the Transformation of England
Paperback
Series: Medieval England in Crisis, Book 10
Medical ReferenceMedieval & Renaissance History
Publisher: Independently Published
Published: Jul 27 2026
Pages: 200
Weight: 0.55
Height: 0.50 Width: 6.00 Depth: 9.00
Language: English
The disease did not merely kill millions. It changed the value of work, land and human life.
In the summer of 1348, plague reached England after devastating communities across Eurasia, the Mediterranean and continental Europe.
Within months, households collapsed, parish priests died, churchyards filled and familiar systems of care and burial came under unbearable pressure. London opened emergency cemeteries, rural manors recorded waves of tenant deaths and communities struggled to harvest crops with too few surviving workers.
Yet the Black Death was not only a story of mortality.
The disappearance of perhaps two-fifths to one-half of the population created an unprecedented scarcity of labour. Workers demanded higher wages, tenants sought better land and servants moved in search of improved conditions.
England's rulers responded with coercion.
The Ordinance of Labourers and Statute of Labourers attempted to freeze wages, restrict movement and force survivors to accept the conditions that had existed before the plague.
The Black Death follows the pandemic from its wider Eurasian origins through England's ports, towns, villages, churches and royal government.
It examines medical symptoms and medieval care, burial and belief, labour regulation, vacant farms, changing towns, clerical mortality, inheritance, women's work and the repeated plague outbreaks that prevented rapid recovery.
Drawing on chronicles, government records, manorial documents, archaeology, ancient DNA research and modern scholarship, Gordon J. MacKenzie separates surviving evidence from later legend. The book avoids presenting the plague as a simple beginning of modern freedom while explaining how demographic catastrophe weakened older assumptions about wages, service and social rank.
This is the story of a society that survived mass death but could not restore the world that had existed before it.
Also from
MacKenzie, Gordon J.
SS Morro Castle: The Fire That Turned a Luxury Liner into a Death Trap
MacKenzie, Gordon J.
Paperback
100 Greatest Medal of Honor Stories: Extraordinary Acts of Courage from America's Highest Military Award
MacKenzie, Gordon J.
Paperback
George Villiers: Court Favourite, War Minister, and the Making of a Constitutional Crisis
MacKenzie, Gordon J.
Paperback
USS Indianapolis: The Sinking, the Sharks, and the Scandal That Haunted the U.S. Navy
MacKenzie, Gordon J.
Paperback
António de Oliveira Salazar: The Quiet Dictatorship That Held Portugal Still
MacKenzie, Gordon J.
Paperback
The Convict Nation: Crime, Punishment, Survival, and the Making of Australian Character
MacKenzie, Gordon J.
Paperback
100 Medal of Honor Stories from Vietnam: Courage, Sacrifice, and Survival in America's Most Controversial War
MacKenzie, Gordon J.
Paperback
Mary Rose: England's Tudor Warship Lost in the Battle of the Solent (1545)
MacKenzie, Gordon J.
Paperback
The Red Terror: Lenin's War on His Enemies and the Birth of Soviet Repression
MacKenzie, Gordon J.
Paperback
Why People Follow Dictators: The Psychology of Obedience, Fear, Propaganda and Power
MacKenzie, Gordon J.
Paperback
The Prisoner's Dilemma: Why Cooperation Fails (Even When It Should Work)
MacKenzie, Gordon J.
Paperback
The Prime Minister's Burden: Winston Churchill and the Hard Road from Dunkirk to Defeat at the Polls
MacKenzie, Gordon J.
Paperback
Henrietta Maria: The Queen Who Defied Parliament and Fought for the Crown
MacKenzie, Gordon J.
Paperback
Stalin's Great Purge: Terror, Betrayal, and the Destruction of a Revolution
MacKenzie, Gordon J.
Paperback
The Purge of the Templars: Faith, Power, and the Destruction of an Order
MacKenzie, Gordon J.
Paperback
100 Medal of Honor Stories from World War II: Courage, Sacrifice, and Heroism from Pearl Harbor to Okinawa
MacKenzie, Gordon J.
Paperback
Herald of Free Enterprise: The Ferry That Sailed With Its Bow Door Open
MacKenzie, Gordon J.
Paperback
Louis XV: The Failure of Bourbon Power: The King Who Inherited Glory and Left a Crisis
MacKenzie, Gordon J.
Paperback
Nero: Rome's Last Julio-Claudian and the Emperor Who Burned His Own Legacy
MacKenzie, Gordon J.
Paperback
100 Fun Facts About Football: Strange, Surprising and Unbelievable Stories from the World's Game
MacKenzie, Gordon J.
Paperback
100 Olympic Records: The Greatest Feats, Fastest Times, and Unbreakable Achievements in Olympic History
MacKenzie, Gordon J.
Paperback
The Bushrangers: Outlaws, Police and the Making of the Australian Legend
MacKenzie, Gordon J.
Paperback
100 Medal of Honor Stories from Iraq and Afghanistan: Courage, Sacrifice, and Survival in Modern America's Longest Wars
MacKenzie, Gordon J.
Paperback
100 Medal of Honor Stories from World War I: Courage, Sacrifice, and Survival in the War to End All Wars
MacKenzie, Gordon J.
Paperback
25 Decisions That Won Formula 1 World Championships: The Moments That Decided F1 Titles
MacKenzie, Gordon J.
Paperback
John Hindmarsh: Powder Monkey, Governor, Forgotten Man of South Australia
MacKenzie, Gordon J.
Paperback
The Kingmaker: Warwick, Edward IV and the Crown That Changed Hands Twice
MacKenzie, Gordon J.
Paperback
Margaret Pole: The Last Plantagenet Princess: Royal Blood, Rebellion and Revenge under Henry VIII
MacKenzie, Gordon J.
Paperback
The Massacre of the Janissaries: The Sultan's Bloody Solution to Power and Betrayal
MacKenzie, Gordon J.
Paperback
The St Bartholomew's Day Massacre: A Night of Slaughter That Shook a Kingdom
MacKenzie, Gordon J.
Paperback
The Reign of Terror: Robespierre and the French Revolution Turned Inward
MacKenzie, Gordon J.
Paperback
Also in
Medieval & Renaissance History
The Power of Place: Rulers and Their Palaces, Landscapes, Cities, and Holy Places
Rollason, David
Hardcover
The Saint and the Sultan: The Crusades, Islam, and Francis of Assisi's Mission of Peace
Moses, Paul
Hardcover
Self-Help from the Middle Ages: What the Seven Deadly Sins Can Teach Us about Living
Jones, Peter
Hardcover
Dark Renaissance: The Dangerous Times and Fatal Genius of Shakespeare's Greatest Rival
Greenblatt, Stephen
Hardcover
The Golden Thread: A History of the Western Tradition, Volume II: The Modern and Contemporary West
Guelzo, Allen C.
Hankins, James
Hardcover
Femina: A New History of the Middle Ages, Through the Women Written Out of It
Ramirez, Janina
Paperback
Alchemy: An Illustrated History of Elixirs, Experiments, and the Birth of Modern Science
Ball, Philip
Hardcover
The Surgeon, the Midwife, the Quack: How to Stay Alive in Renaissance England
Skuse, Alanna
Hardcover
The Time Traveler's Guide to Medieval England: A Handbook for Visitors to the Fourteenth Century
Mortimer, Ian
Paperback
Irish History & Mythology: Exploring The History, Celtic Myths, Folklore, Sagas, Traditions of Ireland
Brought Alive, History
Paperback
The Wolf Age: The Vikings, the Anglo-Saxons and the Battle for the North Sea Empire
Skeie, Tore
Paperback
Oathbreakers: The War of Brothers That Shattered an Empire and Made Medieval Europe
Perry, David M.
Gabriele, Matthew
Paperback
Stone Lands: A Journey of Darkness and Light Through Britain's Ancient Places
Robertson, Fiona
Hardcover
The Great Mortality: An Intimate History of the Black Death, the Most Devastating Plague of All Time
Kelly, John
Paperback
What God Kept for Himself: Atheism, Sodomy, and Radical Dissent in Renaissance Italy
Grassi, Umberto
Hardcover
Ancient and Medieval Siege Weapons: A Fully Illustrated Guide To Siege Weapons And Tactics
Nossov, Konstantin
Paperback
Our Island Story: A History of the Kings, Queens and Battles of England, Scotland and Britain for Boys and Girls
Marshall, H. E.
Paperback
When Asia Was the World: Traveling Merchants, Scholars, Warriors, and Monks Who Created the Riches of the East
Gordon, Stewart
Paperback
The Secret History of the Mongol Queens: How the Daughters of Genghis Khan Rescued His Empire
Weatherford, Jack
Paperback
The History of the Medieval World: From the Conversion of Constantine to the First Crusade
Bauer, Susan Wise
Hardcover
The Myth of the Andalusian Paradise: Muslims, Christians, and Jews Under Islamic Rule in Medieval Spain
Fernandez-Morera, Dario
Hardcover
The Manuscripts Club: The People Behind a Thousand Years of Medieval Manuscripts
de Hamel, Christopher
Paperback
Lost Enlightenment: Central Asia's Golden Age from the Arab Conquest to Tamerlane
Starr, S. Frederick
Paperback
Meetings with Remarkable Manuscripts: Twelve Journeys Into the Medieval World
de Hamel, Christopher
Paperback
Cryptic: From Voynich to the Angel Diaries, the Story of the World's Mysterious Manuscripts
Shaw, Garry J.
Hardcover
A World Lit Only by Fire: The Medieval Mind and the Renaissance: Portrait of an Age
Manchester, William
Paperback
Dark Renaissance: The Dangerous Times and Fatal Genius of Shakespeare's Greatest Rival
Greenblatt, Stephen
Paperback
Femina: A New History of the Middle Ages, Through the Women Written Out of It
Ramirez, Janina
Hardcover
The Battle of Yarmuk: An Assessment of the Immediate Factors behind the Islamic Conquests
Ibrahim, Raymond
Paperback
The Magic Books: A History of Enchantment in 20 Medieval Manuscripts
Lawrence-Mathers, Anne
Hardcover
In the Shadow of the Sword: The Birth of Islam and the Rise of the Global Arab Empire
Holland, Tom
Paperback
The History of the Renaissance World: From the Rediscovery of Aristotle to the Conquest of Constantinople
Bauer, Susan Wise
Hardcover
Venice and the Mongols: The Eurasian Exchange That Transformed the Medieval World
Pubblici, Lorenzo
Di Cosmo, Nicola
Hardcover
The Birth of the Anglo-Saxons: Three Kings and a History of Britain at the Dawn of the Viking Age
Adams, Max
Hardcover
This Earthly Globe: A Venetian Geographer and the Quest to Map the World
Di Robilant, Andrea
Paperback
Urban Infrastructure in Medieval England: Sustainability and Resilience
Magnusson, Roberta J.
Paperback
Women in the Middle Ages: The Lives of Real Women in a Vibrant Age of Transition
Gies, Joseph
Gies, Frances
Paperback
Financial Vipers of Venice: Alchemical Money, Magical Physics, and Banking in the Middle Ages and Renaissance
Farrell, Joseph P.
Paperback
Old Norse - Old Icelandic: Concise Introduction to the Language of the Sagas
Byock, Jesse
Gordon, Randall
Paperback
Elucidation of Necromancy Lucidarium Artis Nigromantice Attributed to Peter of Abano: Including a New Translation of His Heptameron or Elements of Mag
Abano, Peter Of
Peterson, Joseph H.
Hardcover
The Prince (Royal Collector's Edition) (Annotated) (Case Laminate Hardcover with Jacket)
Machiavelli, Niccolò
Hardcover
Il Fior di Battaglia by Fiore dei Liberi Facsimile: With translation by Guy Windsor
Windsor, Guy
Hardcover
The House of Wisdom: How Arabic Science Saved Ancient Knowledge and Gave Us the Renaissance
Al-Khalili, Jim
Paperback
The Bookseller of Florence: The Story of the Manuscripts That Illuminated the Renaissance
King, Ross
Paperback