A History of Epidemics in Britain, Volume 1

What it is

This is the first volume of A History of Epidemics in Britain, written by Charles Creighton, a physician and former anatomy demonstrator at Cambridge. Published in 1891, it covers epidemics in Britain from the year 664 up to the extinction of plague, including detailed treatment of the Black Death.

Why it matters

Creighton drew on historical records to reconstruct the medical history of plague and other epidemics in Britain. His work represents one of the major scholarly efforts to document the Black Death's course and consequences using contemporary and near-contemporary sources, such as Bede's Ecclesiastical History.

Look closer

• Why might a doctor be well suited to writing a history of epidemics?
• What sources does the preface say the author relied on?
• How might writing about plague in 1891, before germ theory was fully accepted everywhere, shape the author's explanations?