The Black Death by Robert S Gottfried

 One nice thing about my internet being down was I started to read a book I have been wanting to read for a while. It is a discussion on the Black Death as a Natural and Human Disaster in Medieval Europe. It was published way back in 1983 but it is a heavily researched topic by him and his ideas are very unique. The effects of the Black Death as the Bubonic Plague came to be known in Europe were enormous at the time and lingered on for a while afterwards. Perhaps 1/6th of the way through the book it is heavy reading as one wants to look at all his references as you read through the book. 

COVID kept bringing my mind back to this book as I have owned it for a while but never sat myself down and started to really read it. Now that we have been through our own worldwide pandemic I can appreciate this book even more. We have not yet begun to feel all the effects that COVID will have on our lives. When one considers the isolation that came with COVID and the suddenness of the Russian invasion of Ukraine which still continues nine months later, COVID has played a part in all of that I rather think although Russia was into invading countries before COVID as certainly Georgia comes to mind. 

NATO has once again proven themselves to be dedicated to peace in our time with the stray bombing in Poland which killed two people. The most obvious result has been that Ukraine must be supplied with more up to date weapons so that these old weapons that are less trustworthy will not be used. They need more air defense tools so that they can eliminate the Russians from their land one way or another. The best way is for Russia to simply retreat back out of Ukraine and save all those young lives - their mothers and wives are looking for them and 1916 and 1917 come to mind when the Russian people finally had enough of their leaders and rose against them en masse. One hopes for a brighter future for the people of Russia than what they are getting from Putin and his enablers.

Glory to Ukraine. They have a right to be free. 

Continuing with my reading of The Black Death and must find his other book that would interest me - Epidemic Disease in Fifteenth Century England: The Medical Response and the Demographic Consequences. This one published in 1978.

Back to sleep. I am up early!