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    Justinian's Flea

    The First Great Plague and the End of the Roman Empire

    Author William Rosen
    Paperback
    $20.00 US
    Penguin Adult HC/TR | Penguin Books
    5.4"W x 8.3"H x 0.8"D   | 12 oz | 36 per carton
    On sale Jul 29, 2008 | 384 Pages | 9780143113812
    Add to cart Add to list Exam Copies

    From the acclaimed author of Miracle Cure and The Third Horseman, the epic story of the collision between one of nature's smallest organisms and history's mightiest empire

    During the golden age of the Roman Empire, Emperor Justinian reigned over a territory that stretched from Italy to North Africa. It was the zenith of his achievements and the last of them. In 542 AD, the bubonic plague struck. In weeks, the glorious classical world of Justinian had been plunged into the medieval and modern Europe was born.

    At its height, five thousand people died every day in Constantinople. Cities were completely depopulated. It was the first pandemic the world had ever known and it left its indelible mark: when the plague finally ended, more than 25 million people were dead. Weaving together history, microbiology, ecology, jurisprudence, theology, and epidemiology, Justinian's Flea is a unique and sweeping account of the little known event that changed the course of a continent.
    “Ambitious and learned . . . readers will be swept along by the strong current of Mr. Rosen’s good natured erudition.”
    —The Economist

    “Impressive study of the Bubonic plague and its impact on history . . . eccentric and erudite . . . a massively ambitious work.”
    —The Guardian (UK)

    "History written with passion, panache, and an appealing bit of attitude."
    —Kirkus Reviews

    "Impressive study of the bubonic plague and its impact on history. . . . Eccentric and erudite . . . a massively ambitious work."
    —The Guardian (London)
    © Emma Rosen
    William Rosen, author of Miracle Cure, The Third Horseman, Justinian’s Flea, and The Most Powerful Idea in the World, was an editor and a publisher at Macmillan, Simon & Schuster, and the Free Press for nearly twenty-five years. View titles by William Rosen

    About

    From the acclaimed author of Miracle Cure and The Third Horseman, the epic story of the collision between one of nature's smallest organisms and history's mightiest empire

    During the golden age of the Roman Empire, Emperor Justinian reigned over a territory that stretched from Italy to North Africa. It was the zenith of his achievements and the last of them. In 542 AD, the bubonic plague struck. In weeks, the glorious classical world of Justinian had been plunged into the medieval and modern Europe was born.

    At its height, five thousand people died every day in Constantinople. Cities were completely depopulated. It was the first pandemic the world had ever known and it left its indelible mark: when the plague finally ended, more than 25 million people were dead. Weaving together history, microbiology, ecology, jurisprudence, theology, and epidemiology, Justinian's Flea is a unique and sweeping account of the little known event that changed the course of a continent.

    Praise

    “Ambitious and learned . . . readers will be swept along by the strong current of Mr. Rosen’s good natured erudition.”
    —The Economist

    “Impressive study of the Bubonic plague and its impact on history . . . eccentric and erudite . . . a massively ambitious work.”
    —The Guardian (UK)

    "History written with passion, panache, and an appealing bit of attitude."
    —Kirkus Reviews

    "Impressive study of the bubonic plague and its impact on history. . . . Eccentric and erudite . . . a massively ambitious work."
    —The Guardian (London)

    Author

    © Emma Rosen
    William Rosen, author of Miracle Cure, The Third Horseman, Justinian’s Flea, and The Most Powerful Idea in the World, was an editor and a publisher at Macmillan, Simon & Schuster, and the Free Press for nearly twenty-five years. View titles by William Rosen

    Other Books by this Author

    • Miracle Cure
      Miracle Cure
      The Creation of Antibiotics and the Birth of Modern Medicine
      William Rosen
      9780143110538
      $27.00 US
      Paperback
      Penguin Books
      May 08, 2018
    • The Third Horseman
      The Third Horseman
      A Story of Weather, War, and the Famine History Forgot
      William Rosen
      9780143127147
      $20.00 US
      Paperback
      Penguin Books
      Apr 28, 2015
    • Miracle Cure
      Miracle Cure
      The Creation of Antibiotics and the Birth of Modern Medicine
      William Rosen
      9780143110538
      $27.00 US
      Paperback
      Penguin Books
      May 08, 2018
    • The Third Horseman
      The Third Horseman
      A Story of Weather, War, and the Famine History Forgot
      William Rosen
      9780143127147
      $20.00 US
      Paperback
      Penguin Books
      Apr 28, 2015

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