In Robert S. Gottfried's book entitled “The Black Death,” he analyzes the 14th century epidemic from an epidemiological perspective. The book is written as a historical account of one of the largest epidemics ever recorded. Gottfried is a renowned professor of history and director of medieval studies at Rutgers University. Another of his books entitled "Epidemic Disease in Fifteenth Century England" focuses on the further epidemics that occurred in Europe after the Black Death. The Black Death, also called the Great Pestilence, was the second of three known pandemic plagues and is considered one of the most damaging pandemics in human history, causing the deaths of approximately 25-50% of the European population in the years 1348 to 1350 . The origins of the plague began from east to west. In 1347 the Black Death entered Constantinople and spread to Byzantium and the eastern Mediterranean. It is theorized that foreign rats that migrated with eastern trade carried the disease called Y. pestis westward, and fleas that fed on those rats then transmitted it. The epidemic spread at an alarming rate and once contracted it had devastating effects; it is said that at its peak the plague killed up to 1000 people a day. With such rapid mortality. The epidemic brings numerous adversities within the different social structures of the Western world. All social classes were affected, although the lower classes, who lived in unhygienic environments, were obviously the most vulnerable. As a result, many medieval people began to isolate themselves for fear of infection. Parents fled their children, husbands abandoned their wives, and sick relatives were deprived of the situation in European society just before the epidemic. It then provides a very comprehensive account of the development and progression of the epidemic throughout the Mediterranean basin and the European continent. It discusses the effects that the plague had in the various geographical areas. It also explains the reactions of the Christian/Muslim clergy, secular authorities and communities in general. Gottfried provides answers to some noteworthy questions, such as why the disease spread the way it did and how societies responded to the pandemic and where it came from. He uses extensive citations from reliable sources to support his analysis and provides a breakdown of the long-term effects the epidemic had on medieval societies. I found this book very informative and easy to digest. I found Gottfried's writings very well researched, clear and concise.