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The Black Death: A History from Beginning to End
- Narrated by: Jimmy Kieffer
- Length: 1 hr
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The Black Death: A History from Beginning to End
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Publisher's summary
Sweeping across the known world with unchecked devastation, the Black Death claimed between 75 million and 200 million lives in four short years. In this engaging and well-researched audiobook, the trajectory of the plague’s march west across Eurasia and the cause of the great pandemic is thoroughly explored.
Inside you will hear about....
- What Was the Black Death?
- A Short History of Pandemics
- Chronology & Trajectory
- Causes & Pathology
- Medieval Theories & Disease Control
- Black Death in Medieval Culture
- Consequences
Fascinating insights into the medieval mind’s perception of the disease and examinations of contemporary accounts give a complete picture of what the world’s most effective killer meant to medieval society in particular and humanity in general.
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Galen of Pergamum (A.D. 129-ca. 216) began his remarkable career tending to wounded gladiators in provincial Asia Minor. Later in life he achieved great distinction as one of a small circle of court physicians to the family of Emperor Marcus Aurelius, at the very heart of Roman society. Susan Mattern's The Prince of Medicine offers the first authoritative biography in English of this brilliant, audacious, and profoundly influential figure.
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4 out of 5 stars
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history of medicine
- By Jean on 07-27-14
By: Susan P. Mattern
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Rabid
- A Cultural History of the World’s Most Diabolical Virus
- By: Bill Wasik, Monica Murphy
- Narrated by: Johnny Heller
- Length: 8 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 2,366
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 2,053
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Story4 out of 5 stars 2,058
The most fatal virus known to science, rabies kills nearly 100 percent of its victims once the infection takes root in the brain. From Greek myths to zombie flicks, from the laboratory heroics of Louis Pasteur to the contemporary search for a lifesaving treatment, Rabid is a fresh, fascinating, and often wildly entertaining look at one of mankind’s oldest and most fearsome foes.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Unexpected and Intriguing
- By Cynthia on 06-09-13
By: Bill Wasik, and others
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Plagues, Pandemics and Viruses
- From the Plague of Athens to COVID-19
- By: Heather E. Quinlan
- Narrated by: Samara Naeymi
- Length: 14 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 49
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 39
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 39
It can come in waves - like tidal waves. It changes societies. It disrupts life. It ends lives. As far back as 3000 B.C.E. (the Bronze Age), plagues have stricken mankind. COVID-19 is just the latest example, but history shows that life continues. It shows that knowledge and social cooperation can save lives. Viruses are neither alive nor dead and are the closest thing we have to zombies. Their only known function is to replicate themselves, which can have devastating consequences on their hosts.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Somewhat elemental
- By Bertha Watkins on 10-23-21
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The Ghost Map
- By: Steven Johnson
- Narrated by: Alan Sklar
- Length: 8 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 1,365
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 980
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 975
This is a thrilling historical account of the worst cholera outbreak in Victorian London and a brilliant exploration of how Dr. John Snow's solution revolutionized the way we think about disease, cities, science, and the modern world.
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3 out of 5 stars
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It was okay until the end
- By Matthew Groom on 12-04-08
By: Steven Johnson
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The Remedy
- Robert Koch, Arthur Conan Doyle, and the Quest to Cure Tuberculosis
- By: Thomas Goetz
- Narrated by: Donald Corren
- Length: 9 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 582
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 511
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 508
In 1875, tuberculosis was the deadliest disease in the world, accountable for a third of all deaths. A diagnosis of TB - often called consumption - was a death sentence. Then, in a triumph of medical science, a German doctor named Robert Koch deployed an unprecedented scientific rigor to discover the bacteria that caused TB. Koch soon embarked on a remedy - a remedy that would be his undoing. When Koch announced his cure for consumption, Arthur Conan Doyle, then a small-town doctor in England and sometime writer, went to Berlin to cover the event.
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4 out of 5 stars
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thought-provoking
- By Jean on 07-06-14
By: Thomas Goetz
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Middle Ages
- A Captivating Guide to the Dark Ages and Black Death
- By: Captivating History
- Narrated by: Randy Whitlow
- Length: 6 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 9
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 9
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 9
Following the fall of Rome in 476 CE, the entire dynamic of Europe underwent a complete shift in power and culture. The Dark Ages was an interesting period of about six centuries. During it, Europe was still trying to figure out what it was and how it would survive the chaos that followed the fall of Rome.
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5 out of 5 stars
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The Black Death
- By manuel jimenez on 07-28-21
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The Bubonic Plague
- Medicine & Inventions
- By: iMinds
- Narrated by: Ellouise Rothwell
- Length: 8 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 110
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 92
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 91
Bubonic plague is widely regarded as being responsible for two of the most infamous plagues in recorded history - the Black Death in the mid-14th century and the great plague of London in 1665. The causative organism of modern-day plague was discovered independently in 1894 by two bacteriologists: the Swiss born Dr. Alexandre Yersin and Dr. Shibasaburo Kitasato from Japan.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Research morsels for busy minded
- By LadyRosenoir on 01-25-22
By: iMinds
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In the Wake of the Plague
- The Black Death and the World It Made
- By: Norman F. Cantor
- Narrated by: Bill Wallace
- Length: 6 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 362
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 163
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Story4 out of 5 stars 166
Much of what we know about the greatest medical disaster ever, the Black Plague of the fourteenth century, is wrong. The details of the Plague etched in the minds of terrified schoolchildren the hideous black welts, the high fever, and the final, awful end by respiratory failure are more or less accurate. But what the Plague really was, and how it made history, remain shrouded in a haze of myths.
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1 out of 5 stars
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Don't waste time or money
- By Anne on 01-22-09
By: Norman F. Cantor
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The Fate of Rome
- Climate, Disease, and the End of an Empire
- By: Kyle Harper
- Narrated by: Andrew Garman
- Length: 15 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 394
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 328
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 326
Interweaving a grand historical narrative with cutting-edge climate science and genetic discoveries, Kyle Harper traces how the fate of Rome was decided not just by emperors, soldiers, and barbarians but also by volcanic eruptions, solar cycles, climate instability, and devastating viruses and bacteria. He takes listeners from Rome's pinnacle in the second century, when the empire seemed an invincible superpower, to its unraveling by the seventh century, when Rome was politically fragmented and materially depleted.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Interesting and worthwhile
- By B. Coleman on 06-15-19
By: Kyle Harper
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Vlad the Impaler
- A Life from Beginning to End
- By: Hourly History
- Narrated by: Stephen Floyd
- Length: 57 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 58
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 46
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Story4 out of 5 stars 45
Many scholars argue that Vlad III Dracula, also known as Vlad the Impaler, is the real Dracula. His story, however, is much more complicated than the oft-reported details of his atrocities would imply. This audiobook tells the story of his life and times and discusses his connection to the fictional Count Dracula in a succinct, compelling manner, which makes for an entertaining listen packed with historical information.
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1 out of 5 stars
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simply horrifying
- By Ashley on 10-30-18
By: Hourly History
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The Great Influenza
- The Epic Story of the Deadliest Plague in History
- By: John M. Barry
- Narrated by: Scott Brick
- Length: 19 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 6,830
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 5,351
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 5,335
In the winter of 1918, at the height of World War I, history's most lethal influenza virus erupted in an army camp in Kansas, moved east with American troops, then exploded, killing as many as 100 million people worldwide. It killed more people in 24 weeks than AIDS has killed in 24 years, more in a year than the Black Death killed in a century. But this was not the Middle Ages, and 1918 marked the first collision between modern science and epidemic disease.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Great book but very disturbing...
- By Tim on 01-15-09
By: John M. Barry
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A Short History of Medicine
- Modern Library Chronicles
- By: Frank Gonzalez-Crussi
- Narrated by: John McDonough
- Length: 9 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 81
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 47
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Story4 out of 5 stars 47
Praised for his erudite writing, renowned scientist Frank Gonzalez-Crussi penned this concise history of medicine, beginning with the most primitive health-care practices and ending with the technology of modern medicine that we enjoy today. As with all Modern Library Chronicles, A Short History of Medicine is a wonderful primer for anyone interested in the subject.
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1 out of 5 stars
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Dull and Disorganized
- By Amazon Customer on 05-21-08
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An American Plague
- The True and Terrifying Story of the Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1793
- By: Jim Murphy
- Narrated by: Pat Bottino
- Length: 3 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 177
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Performance3.5 out of 5 stars 131
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Story4 out of 5 stars 132
In An American Plague, Jim Murphy tells the story of the 1793 yellow fever epidemic. Bizarre medical practices of the time are discussed, as well as popular historical figures, such as George Washington and Benjamin Rush, who were involved in finding a cure for this horrific outbreak. Pat Bottino's captivating narration adds appeal to this interesting historical tale.
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2 out of 5 stars
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Don't expect technical depth...
- By Ebird on 01-27-06
By: Jim Murphy
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The Moth in the Iron Lung
- A Biography of Polio
- By: Forrest Maready
- Narrated by: Forrest Maready
- Length: 5 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 457
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 399
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Story5 out of 5 stars 397
A fascinating account of the world’s most famous disease - polio - told as you have never heard it before. Epidemics of paralysis began to rage in the early 1900s, seemingly out of nowhere. Doctors, parents, and health officials were at a loss to explain why this formerly unheard-of disease began paralyzing so many children. Why did this disease start to become such a horrible problem during the late 1800s? Why did it affect children more often than adults? Why was it originally called teething paralysis by mothers and their doctors?
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5 out of 5 stars
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Root Cause
- By Circlekay1 Gulfport MS on 10-24-19
By: Forrest Maready
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What listeners say about The Black Death: A History from Beginning to End
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- WMS
- 07-05-21
Very Good
This is a very good synopsis of the Black Death. There was just the right amount of numerical data and real-world experiences to make it poignant. I highly recommend it.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Fr. S.
- 03-25-23
Fine history of a pandemic
This combines good history and science for an excellent overview. I highly recommend it.
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