While there is some analysis at the beginning pointing out how busy and bustling England in all sectors before the Black Death, for the most part this book comprises of raw data of all the names, places, wills, inheritances, occupations and dates of birth, marriage and death of the regular people of England.

Its impressive just how many people Warner traces in the record, considering how much this time period is dismissed as only recording the lives of royalty, but not much is done with all this raw data. Its mostly name after name, followed by when, exactly, during the Black Death that they died.

This is a Black Death book with a focus on the social history of the time period. I enjoyed that it went into specific peoples experiences during the time period, and felt like it added to my current knowledge. I'm always up for a new perspective on history, and this book ticked off that box for me. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC!

The story of the Black Death has been told in many ways, from the factual to the scientific. Here, Warner looks deeply at the personal effect of the pandemic on the ordinary people of England, the families wiped out and the changes to the social make-up of the country. It's a meticulously researched book, going into contemporary records and teasing out the true extent of the devastation that was wrought on the populace.

I admire the research that went into this book. The names of so many plague victims and survivors are staggering! The book is broken down into each region of England with the recorded deaths from the first pandemic in 1348 through each of the three later ones.

The only thing that dropped this book down to 3 stars was that it gets a bit tedious reading all the names of the dead one after the other. It made me start to skim the book, looking for “stories” or last names of people I know today, so I could make a connection with it. I think I was expecting more of a focus on a few families in each region, rather than names after names after names. However, that is what was recorded at the time, and I appreciate the author’s dedication to authenticity in honoring the dead.

Well researched, informative, and compelling. A good book that made me learn a lot
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine

England in the fourteenth century was characterized by catastrophic loss of life due to the plague. Due to the time period and the sheer scale of the deaths, there is little account of the individuals, and the families impacted. However, while the publisher's description leads the reader to believe this will be a social history of plague victims, it is instead a reference text. The bulk of the book is composed of paragraph after paragraph of detailed birth and death dates and family connections of those that likely died due to the plague. This would be a great reference text for someone writing a history or even a novel of the plague, but it was not particularly enjoyable to read as a history, nor do I think it was necessarily intended to be sat and read straight through.

There were some interesting details gleaned from this book. I was fascinated by the range of names, many of which I had never heard before! These included last names like Cokheved, Merflet, and Stodeye but also first names like Avice, Pernel, Urry, and Gonnora. And others were, as the author says, "gloriously named" all around like Amflesia Mareschall.

It was also nice to see that pains were taken to look out for the many children left orphaned due to the plague: "the London authorities took swift and decisive action against people who tried to take advantage of vulnerable orphans, even before the terrible first pandemic was over." The courts worked to make sure orphans were placed in the custody of guardians and "orphans were never placed in the custody of complete strangers." The staggering level of loss is evident though in how tenuous some of the connections between child and guardian was. For example, one child named Agnes Stokwell lost her entire family, including "her parents, her four siblings, her and her uncle in 1349" and was placed with her late father's apprentice, someone who at least who have been known to her, but who was clearly not a relative.

The author's final notes do include some contemplation of how history would have been different had certain individuals not survived the plague. For instance, multiple relatives of Geoffrey Chaucer died but he was spared. How different the literary world would be had he not survived to write The Canterbury Tales! Similarly, if a young boy named Philip Dispenser had succumbed like multiple members of his family, his descendent Jane Seymour, the future mother of King Edward VI would never been born and the history of England would likely look very different. Of course, conversely, it also makes you wonder "how many great writers, thinkers, scholars and potential world-changers - or ancestors of world-changers - we perhaps lost to the Black Death."

It is difficult for me to rate this book. It is clearly well researched and technically sound. I do find the publisher's description misleading as I likely would not have picked this up had I known it was essentially a reference text/catalog of plague victims. However, I did learn a good deal and it was interesting to be given some insight into the ordinary people who suffered from this great loss of life rather than just prominent or royal individuals affected.

'The Black Death in England: Journal of the Plague Years' by Kathryn Warner is less of a usual book and more of a reference. The book starts by setting the scene before the first round of the Plague raged across Europe. Who were the ruling figures, what were they doing and who were their families., Then, chapter by chapter, we are exposed to names, ages and family trees of many of the individuals and families that met their demise.

In the introduction of the book itself, the goal is pretty clear:
"Journal of the Plague Years aims to give names to some of the people of England who died in the Black Death and those who lived through it, and to recreate a little of their lives wherever possible."

And this is exactly what the book succeeds in doing. I am honestly in awe at how much the author was able to gather about all those people. Who was married to whom? Who were their children? What happened to their loved ones after their passing? What about their wills? I honestly didn't expect all of these details.

While the information is presented in a factual manner, something about just giving names to all those people and realizing that once upon a time, they were real persons with dreams, hopes and full lives is heart-wrenching. The accounts shared are truly horrifying in their ... simplicity. Entire families vanished. Children lost all of their parents, siblings and relatives within days. Young daughters were wed off by the next surviving guardians to 'protect them' as others greed after their inheritance.

This is not a book you read for entertainment, nor is it a book to read casually. This is an ideal reference for anyone exploring the medieval times and the plagues. And it does so brilliantly.

Throughout history, pandemics have ravaged human populations and changed the course of history. None more so than the Bubonic Plague, also known as the Black Death. It devastated entire families and altered entire countries, primarily in Europe. Although England is an island nation, that does not mean it could not escape the pandemic's horrors for long. In her latest book, “The Black Death in England: Journal of the Plague Years in the Fourteenth Century, “ Kathryn Warner explores the lives of the victims of the Black Death throughout England during this century.

I would like to thank Pen and Sword Books and Net Galley for sending me a copy of this book. I haven’t read many books that focus primarily on the Black Death, so I was interested to see what kind of insights Warner would provide in this book.

Warner is known for her meticulous research, which she masterfully demonstrates in this book. Unlike other books about the Black Death, Warner chooses to focus on the individual stories of the victims and the survivors from every walk of life. Now this is a lot of information, especially when you consider how many waves of the plague hit England and the number of villages that were in England during this period. However, Warner breaks it down so each region gets its special section. Primarily, Warner explores the plague outbreak of 1349-1350, but she does explore other outbreaks.

The true highlight of this book is the fact that Warner focuses on the stories of the common people, not just the nobility or royalty, which are often highlighted in medieval history books. I think it was so fascinating to see how others dealt with the plague and how it affected their families and the nation as a whole.

Overall, I think this is a solid book for those who want to dive into the archives and explore the impact of the Black Death in England. It may be a difficult read for some and it might not be for casual readers, but if you want something more academic, I would suggest “The Black Death in England: Journal of the Plague Years in the Fourteenth Century” by Kathryn Warner.

Very informative and an enjoyable read, I liked that it helped put a human face to the tragedy, and helped with research for my current wip too.

Sadly this did not work for me. I found it very repetitive and it just didn’t hold my attention.

Although this didn’t work for me, it might for you.

I am such a history geek and the Black Death is a period in history that has fascinated me for such a long time. This was a really great non fiction read, insightful and intriguing

A wonderful historical reference book about the turbulent times of the Black Plague. The author definitely did her research. Well-written and detailed.

Thanks to Netgalley and Pen & Sword History for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book is difficult to review for me, as I was expecting something completely different. The blurb let me to believe it would be more of an actual Journal of people surviving or not surviving the Black Plague in England and being an easy to digest non-fiction read.

What it really is, is more of a reference book. Giving names to the people that died in the pestilence and giving background, where the background was known. It also comes with some family trees and the chapters are divided by region. Kathryn Warner has definitely done her research and it is a book that will be interesting for those wanting to dive deep into this subject.

Now this was such an interesting read,
Even had my own little town in it which was amazing
I really enjoyed it and actually felt like I learned so much. Such a brilliant read love it

I’m basing my rating on a mix of the quality of this as a reference book and my enjoyment but only because I mistook this as a more read-through history book. If I knew what I was going into it likely would’ve been 5 stars because this many details of people from not only the 14th century but also from during a mess like the Black Death is amazing.

Definitely recommend for research!

Kathryn Warner’s account of the Black Death is a compelling and often upsetting read. She brings the unimaginable reality onto stark life with reference to real families and the tragedies they suffered. Given that there are very few written records of the time, I can only imagine that her research has been both challenging and extensive. I’ve enjoyed her approach to this heartbreaking story. The scene is initially set pre plague in the first months of 1348. Edward III is monarch and Britain is at war with France. Chaucer was a child and the detail about a select few individuals gives real texture to the setting. The rest of the book considers the plague county by county with family stories recounted in convincing and, I’m sure, authentic detail. As awful as it was, it’s the first time I’ve read a book about the Black Death that really hits home. I felt as if I got to know some of those affected and shared their distress and sense of fear as the inevitable hit. It’s an incredible slice of social history, not only about the pestilence, but about England through those years and the structural set up of the counties. There are numerous photos at the end of the narrative, a comprehensive index with so many family names, I’d think this is of interest to those involved in family history. The bibliography of primary and secondary sources gives much further reading. A compelling and remarkable read and my thanks to the publisher and Netgalley fir an early review copy.