It is believed that the Black Death started in China. It then reached rat fleas on merchant ships and was spread throughout the Mediterranean and Europe. The Black Death is estimated to have killed anywhere from 30-60 percent of the European population. It took nearly 2 centuries for Europes population to recover and it is difficult to gage just how much an effect the Black Death had on the course of European history. I.F.C. Heckers The Black Death in the Fourteenth Century provides detail...

The black death is thought to have started in China, and travelled along the Silk Road to reach Crimea by 1346. From there, it was probably carried by Oriental rat fleas living on the black rats that were regular passengers on merchant ships, it spread throughout the Mediterranean and Europe. The Black Death is estimated to have killed 3060 percent of Europe's population,reducing the world's population from an estimated 450 million to between 350 and 375 million in 1400. This has been seen as...

History of three wars from the reign of Justinian, Byzantine emperor -- The Persian War, The Vandalic War, and The Gothic War. According to Wikipedia: "Procopius of Caesarea (Latin: Procopius Caesarensis, c. AD 500 – c. AD 565) was a prominent Byzantine scholar from Palestine. Accompanying the general Belisarius in the wars of the Emperor Justinian I, he became the principal historian of the 6th century, writing the Wars of Justinian, the Buildings of Justinian and the celebrated Secret Hi...

Medieval France: From the Reign of Hugues Capet to the Beginning of the Sixteenth Century is a classic treatise on the history of France. This expansive text covers French history form the 10th to the 16th centuries, including the Capetian dynasty, the Crusades, and the Hundred Years War. A table of contents is included for easier navigation.

New York Times 'Could hardly be a more timely parable for our day' Evening Standard 'An engrossing and vivid impression of those terrible days' Sunday Express 'Absorbing. . .an excellent account of the two most fantastic years in London's history' This book chronicles the horror and human suffering of two of the most terrible years in London's long and vivid history. 1665 brought the plague and cries of "Bring Out Your Dead" echoed the city. A year later, the ...

The First Crusade began in 1095 by Pope Urban II in response to an appeal from Byzantine Emperor Alexios I Komnenos, who requested that western volunteers come to his aid and help to repel the invading Seljuq Turks from Anatolia. An additional goal soon became the principal objectivethe Christian reconquest of the sacred city of Jerusalem and the Holy Land and the freeing of the Eastern Christians from Islamic rule. During the crusade, knights and peasants from many nations of Western Europe ...

Medieval Cuisine from Food Fare features information about food and culture in the Middle Ages, including the history of medieval dishes, kitchen utensils and other cooking tools, etiquette, dining, holy days, common recipes, food terms, words and phrases, a medieval day in the life, and links for further study. *UPDATED in May 2013 with 15 new recipes and extra content.*

The Christian Roman Empire and the Foundation of the Teutonic Kingdoms, by illustrious historian J.B. Bury, chronicles the 3rd through 7th centuries A.D.

The modern image of the pirate is derived from Captain Charles Johnson's accounts of the cut-throats who sailed under the Jolly Roger. It was he who gave mythical status to the likes of Blackbeard and Captain Kidd. Using contemporary sources, Nigel Cawthorne now turns the spotlight on the reality of pirate life, revealing the truth behind the legends. It gives us an insight into the men - and women - their weapons, their ships, their unhappy victims and their hide-outs, including the capit...

The streets of London flourish like possibly no other city on earth, with stories from its rich history, stories of death - fire - disease, of riots, and grisly murders, but also of tales of happiness, determination and success. Behind every story and every street however, are the people who lived, worked, played, and even murdered there.Everyone thinks they know of the legend of Dick Turpin, the gentleman highway robber, but Turpin was far from being the gentleman he was portrayed...

A look at what world history might have been like if not for the fall of the Western Roman Empire.This is a fascinating exploration of how the history of Europe, and indeed the world, might have been different if the Western Roman Empire had survived the crises that pulled it apart in the fourth and fifth centuries.The author starts by showing how that survival and recovery might plausibly have happened if several relatively minor things had been different....

Few books before have explored the exploits, achievements, and notorious antics of ancient Rome's imperial dynasties in such readable detail. This title sets out to describe the lives of every man (and a few women) who aspired to the purple, from Augustus in 27 BC to Justinian I, who died in AD 565—arguably the end of Rome's classical period. Many are familiar with the descendants of Julius Caesar—Augustus, Tiberius, Caligula, and Nero—but how many readers know about Maximinus Thrax, Claud...