Return of the Black Death: The Worlds Greatest Serial Killer

The Black Death was the most terrible and notorious serial killer of all time. Using original parish records, wills and diaries, Sue Scott and Christopher Duncan reveal the causes of the terrible plague and the human stories behind the statistics. In their skilled hands the records yield some surprising and disturbing truths. Using this evidence, Scott and Duncan prove conclusively that these plagues were not Bubonic Plague, as had been believed throughout the twentieth century, and were not spread by rats. They were the result of a lethal and highly infectious virus transmitted directly from person to person. The disease currently remains in hiding, but the Black Death, or something like it, could re–emerge at any time and, with today′s highly mobile community, the consequences would be catastrophic.

Preface. Introduction. Chapter 1: Birth of a Serial Killer. Chapter 2: The Black Death Crosses the Channel. Chapter 3: After the Black Death: The French Connection. Chapter 4: Tentacles of the Plague. Chapter 5: England under Siege. Chapter 6: Portrait of an Epidemic. Chapter 7: The Great Plague of London. Chapter 8: How Bugs and Germs Operate. Chapter 9: Building an Identikit of the Killer. Chapter 10: Debunking History. Chapter 11: The Biology of Bubonic Plague: A Myth Revisited. Chapter 12: DNA Analysis: A Red Herring. Chapter 13: The True Story of a Historic Village. Chapter 14: The Surprising Link between AIDS and the Black Death. Chapter 15: Assembling the Jigsaw Puzzle. Chapter 16: The Black Death in Hiding. Chapter 17: Why Did Haemorrhagic Plague Suddenly Disappear? Chapter 18: The Dangers of Emergent Diseases. Chapter 19: The Return of the Black Death? Chapter 20: Is There Something more Terrible than the Black Death? Further Reading. Index.

Professor Christopher Duncan is Emeritus Professor of Zoology at Liverpool University. He has written over 200 published papers and seven books. Susan Scott is a Social Historian specializing in demography. She has written 30 published papers and three books. Susan Scott and Christopher Duncan have spent years analysing the series of plagues that ravaged Europe throughout the Middle Ages.

“… a piece of astonishing medical detective work…” (Observer, 16 May 2004) “… a good account of the history of the three great plagues.” (Nature, 8 th July 2004) “… a compelling read…” (NewScientist.com, July 2004) “Using documents of unimaginably diverse provenance, Susan Scott and Christopher Duncan assume the role of ‘plague detectives’.” (The Lancet, July 2004) “…a compelling read…” (New Scientist, July 04) “…humour, accessible style and gripping disgust–factor…well written…a rare achivement…” (Lancet, July 04)