John Hatcher, a leading expert in medieval and early modern social and economic history, is Professor of Economic and Social History and Chairman of the History Faculty at the University of Cambridge.

Bookviews.com, July 2009 "This book uses a bit of fiction, mixing it with [Hatcher's] vast knowledge to illuminate that catastrophe." Curled Up with a Good Book "This book screams 'docudrama.' One wonders if it will be made into a TV mini-series, so vivid is its novelistic story line yet accurate its information...What Hatcher has done, and done well, is to tell the tale of the Black Plague that swept through Europe in the 14th century from the viewpoint of a single English village." Cleveland Plain Dealer, 8/7/09 "The core of the story -- the plague's effect on the lives of everyday people-- is as true as can be surmised, nearly 700 years later."