The Worst Year Ever

The Year of the Plague #1

This is the story of the Black Death. It started during lockdown, when I spent a lot of time reading about the Plague and disease generally – probably not the best choice of subject matter for my mental state, in retrospect. As I read more, I thought of turning it into an extended essay or even book, but I then concluded that of all subjects in history, no one wants to read about a pandemic. Even before the Covid vaccine came along, I suspected that the subject would be forgotten about because most epidemics aren’t remembered: unlike war, which brings glorious narratives of national salvation, disease is just… depressing. But, since over the next two or three years I ended up writing thousands of words on the subject, I thought I’d publish on my substack as a series.