In 1665, the city of London experienced a plague so devastating that it is simply and forever known as the Great Plague. Killing 100,000 people in and around London, almost a third of the population, this epidemic had a devastating effect on the city's economy and social fabric, as well as on those who lived through it. Yet even at the height of the plague, the city did not descend into chaos. In their new account of this epidemic, historian A. Lloyd Moote and microbiologist Dorothy C. Moote find that in London doctors, apothecaries, surgeons, and clergy remained in the city to care for the sick; parish and city officials confronted the crisis with all the legal tools at their disposal; even business continued.

The Great Plague: The Story of London's Most Deadly Year tells its fascinating story through the experiences of nine diverse individuals, five of whom stayed in the city throughout the epidemic and four who observed events from the surrounding countryside. Underscoring the human dimensions of the epidemic, Lloyd and Dorothy Moote offer a detailed history of the Great Plague and suggest the dangers modern societies still face from microscopic threats. (March, 384 pages, 20 illustrations, $29.95 hardcover)

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