Justinian's Flea: Plague, Empire and the Birth of Europe - Softcover
The Emperor Justinian reunified Romes fractured empire by defeating the Goths and Vandals who had separated Italy, Spain, and North Africa from imperial rule. In his capital at Constantinople he built the world's most beautiful building, married its most powerful empress, and wrote its most enduring legal code, seemingly restoring Rome's fortunes for the next five hundred years. Then, in the summer of 542, he encountered a flea. The ensuing outbreak of bubonic plague killed five thousand people a day in Constantinople and nearly killed Justinian himself.
In Justinian's Flea , William Rosen tells the story of history's first pandemic plague seven centuries before the Black Death that killed tens of millions, devastated the empires of Persia and Rome, left a path of victims from Ireland to Iraq, and opened the way for the armies of Islam. Weaving together evolutionary microbiology, economics, military strategy, ecology, and ancient and modern medicine, Rosen offers a sweeping narrative of one of the great hinge moments in history, one that will appeal to readers of John Kelly's The Great Mortality , John Barry's The Great Influenza , and Jared Diamond's Collapse .
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About the Author:
William Rosen was an editor and publisher for more than twenty-five years.
From AudioFile:
Described as a chronicle of the collision of the worlds smallest organism with the worlds mightiest power, Rosens work promises a sweeping examination of the Golden Age of Constantinople. Rich in the detail so beloved by fans of historical narrative, the story is as compelling and dramatic as a novel. All of this makes Barrett Whiteners atonal narration that much more disappointing. Whitener has previously won Earphone Awards, leading one to anticipate a performance reflecting the passion, panache, and attitude heralded in the books reviews. But, although his voice is clear, his tone and performance are flat. Whiteners narration does not enhance the experience of listening to this unique historical work. M.O.B. © AudioFile 2007, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine
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- PublisherPimlico
- Publication date2008
- ISBN 10 1844137449
- ISBN 13 9781844137442
- BindingPaperback
- Edition number1
- Number of pages384
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Justinian's Flea (Paperback)
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Book Description Paperback. Condition: new. Paperback. Popular history at its best- an epic story in which the newly united Roman Empire under Justinian is decimated by bubonic plague.In the middle of the sixth century, the world's smallest organism collided with the world's mightiest empire. With the death of twenty-five million people, the Roman Empire, under her last great emperor, Justinian, was decimated. Before Yersinia pestis, the bacterium that carries bubonic plague, was finished, both the Roman and Persian empires were easy pickings for the armies of Muhammad on their conquering march out of Arabia. In its wake, the plague - history's first pandemic - marked the transition from the age of Mediterranean empires to the age of European nation-states - from antiquity to the medieval world.A narrative history that melds contemporary sources with modern disciplines, Justinian's Flea is a unique account of one of history's great turning points - the summer of 542 - revealed through the experiences of the remarkable individuals whose lives are a window onto a remarkable age- Justinian, his general Belisarius, the greatest soldier between Caesar and Saladin; his architect, Anthemius who built Constantinople's Hagia Sophia (and whose brother, Alexander, was the great physician of the plague years); Tribonian, the jurist who created the Justinianic Code; and, finally, his empress Theodora, the one-time prostitute who became co-ruler of the empire, the most politically powerful woman in European history until Elizabeth I. In the middle of the 6th century, the Yersinia pestis, the bacterium that carries bubonic plague, collided with the world's mightiest empire. With the death of 25 million people, the Roman Empire, under her last great emperor, Justinian, was decimated. This book tells the story of that collision. Shipping may be from multiple locations in the US or from the UK, depending on stock availability. Seller Inventory # 9781844137442
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Justinian's Flea: Plague, Empire and the Birth of Europe
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