A Journal of the Plague Year
Published on 29. May 2003
Book
Paperback/Softback
336 pages
978-0-14-043785-0 (ISBN)
Description
'The most reliable and comprehensive account of the Great Plague that we possess' Anthony Burgess
In 1665 the plague swept through London, claiming over 97,000 lives. Daniel Defoe was just five at the time of the plague, but he later called on his own memories, as well as his writing experience, to create this vivid chronicle of the epidemic and its victims. 'A Journal' (1722) follows Defoe's fictional narrator as he traces the devastating progress of the plague through the streets of London. Here we see a city transformed: some of its streets suspiciously empty, some - with crosses on their doors - overwhelmingly full of the sounds and smells of human suffering. And every living citizen he meets has a horrifying story that demands to be heard.
In 1665 the plague swept through London, claiming over 97,000 lives. Daniel Defoe was just five at the time of the plague, but he later called on his own memories, as well as his writing experience, to create this vivid chronicle of the epidemic and its victims. 'A Journal' (1722) follows Defoe's fictional narrator as he traces the devastating progress of the plague through the streets of London. Here we see a city transformed: some of its streets suspiciously empty, some - with crosses on their doors - overwhelmingly full of the sounds and smells of human suffering. And every living citizen he meets has a horrifying story that demands to be heard.
Reviews / Votes
"One of the most original and harrowing accounts of living through a virulent pandemic . . . as full of meaning about human suffering today as it was when it was written." -The Daily Beast"A brilliant account of the last major outbreak of bubonic plague in Britain-and it can still educate readers three centuries later." -BBC News
"[A] classic of plague literature . . . Camus was inspired by this book in writing The Plague." -The Jerusalem Post
"So grimly immediate . . . you can practically smell the death and decay." -The Guardian
"A realistic account of the plague's effects on [London]. Defoe's novel still has the power to unsettle-like when he writes about families forced into quarantine due to an infected family member." -Vulture
"Within the texture of Defoe's prose, London becomes a living and suffering being." -Peter Ackroyd
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Penguin Books Ltd
Product notice
Paperback (UK-B)
Dimensions
Height: 199 mm
Width: 129 mm
Thickness: 24 mm
Weight
254 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-14-043785-0 (9780140437850)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Daniel Defoe | Christopher Bristow
A Journal of the Plague Year
E-Book
05/2003
1st Edition
Penguin Books Ltd
€9.49
Available for download
Persons
Daniel Defoe (1660-1731) had a variety of careers including merchant, soldier, secret agent, and political pamphleteer. He wrote economic texts, history, biography, crime, and most famously fiction, including Robinson Crusoe, Moll Flanders and Roxana. Cynthia Wall is Assistant Professor of English at the University of Virginia.
Content
A Journal of the Plague YearChronology
Introduction
Notes
Further Reading
A Note on the TextA Journal of the Plague Year
Appendix I: The Plague
Appendix II: Topographical Index
Appendix III: London Maps
Appendix IV: Introduction by Anthony Burgess to the 1966 Penguin English Library Edition
Glossary
Notes
Introduction
Notes
Further Reading
A Note on the TextA Journal of the Plague Year
Appendix I: The Plague
Appendix II: Topographical Index
Appendix III: London Maps
Appendix IV: Introduction by Anthony Burgess to the 1966 Penguin English Library Edition
Glossary
Notes