Customer Reviews
Though you knew about the Black Death? - By: Lynne Grey, 07 Apr 2008 
t is interesting to note that historians would rather rearrange facts to make them fit their theories, & nothing points it out like what happenedin explaining the Black Death. Rather than take what was being said by those who experienced at face value, those who were studying this seemed to think that these people just simply couldn't have known what they were talking about.
Now, Baillie has shown with tree ring & ice core samples just how wrong the historians got it. And this is not a dry read. It is putin fairly plain language for all to understand.
One might ask just why the historians would not even look at the fact that comets may have been to blame for the plague, when everyone who wrote about it mentioned the fire from the skies, rain of fire, fiery snow, bad air.....the list is endless.
These are things that we should learn about so thatin the event that it should happen again, we won't be unprepared & will know what is actually happening.
It is a very interesting read.
Highly recommended - By: Phung Minh Hoang, 04 Apr 2008 This is a scientific book that reads like a detective novel. For the first time, Baillie takes a cross-disciplinary approach to study what happened during the Black Deathin Europein the 14th century. A large amount of evidence is gathered from diverse fields of studies such as tree ring, ice core to mythology to present a convincing case that what caused the Black Death was not at all what the consensus has taken it to be. Rather than the bubonic plague, Baillie shows that the event that killed up to half Europe's population was caused by toxic substances released by cometary impacts from space.
"Why should I care about what caused the Black Death?," you may ask. It is because what happenedin the past may well happenin our future. Baillie showsin the book that the Black Death is not just an isolated event but part of a series of cataclysms caused by comets. And he is but one of the warning voices about this danger facing humanity. According to new research, notably by Victor Clubein The Cosmic Winter, the probability of cometary impactin a century period is very high. An example of it being the Tunguska impact at the early 20th century. Imagine what the effect would have been if that comet had landed on a city instead of a remote place.
So I would highly recommend this book to everyone to learn more about this subject. Acquiring knowledge is the first stepin dealing with any threat, especially one with global implication like this. To be forewarned is to be forearmed.
A Book with Shocking New Evidence on the Black Death - By: Zadius Sky, 03 Feb 2008 The Black Death was the infamous disaster event that I have studiedin college a few years ago. During my studies, I have focused so much on the primary documents as well on the secondary sources on how such disaster came to be, seeing that it killed off two-third of the population & the after-effects. But, never once have I thought of the shocking connection between the comet impact & the event of Black Death of 1347 as I have just read this book by Mike Baillie, which profoundly changed my perspective.
I have been read quite few books & articles on the Black Death & came to learn, as "accepted" by scientific community, that the Black Death was spread by black rats (rattus rattus) from Asia area to Europe. But, Baillie questioned that notion & asked what if that Black Death was never a bubonic plague as everyone believed it was.
In "New Light on the Black Death," Baillie provided intriguing evidence, such as tree-rings, ice cores, as well the contemporary accounts to bring home the new perspective: that Black Death was likely caused by a comet impact. Not only he provided an evidence for the plague of 1348/9, but he also brings to attention of the previous events, such as the Justinian plague of AD 542 & the plague of Athensin AD 430.
Once again, this book certainly changed my perspective of the Black Death, questioned everything I have ever studied on the subject. Not only does this book question my knowledge on the subject, but it certainly made me ponder on the future cosmic disasters: "Will there be the next Black Death?"
Baillie's book is filled with fascinating & shocking scientific data. It consisted only 19 chapters, with roughly 205 pages as it's not very long book, but it certainly enthralled me to read it with a careful attention. And, this book is a truly recommended.
Intriguing - By: DB, 24 Jan 2008 
An interesting thesis: that the early stages of the Black Deathin Europe were caused by a sizeable fragment of a comet landingin the Mediterranean & releasing a cloud of toxic gases. Only the later deaths were caused by disease, presumably aided by compromised immune systems. The quality of the evidence that Baillie presents ranges from the wholly convincing down to the merely suggestive.
Let's descend through the degrees of probability. For a start, epidemiologists are already casting doubt on the traditional rat/flea/bubonic plague model. Baillie shows, from tree-ring data - his own speciality - that there was a pronounced climatic downturnin the few years preceding the plaguein Europe. From ice-core evidence it would appear that the reason for this is most likely cometary dust reducing the solar incidence, plus a series of minor impacts injecting pollutants into the atmosphere. Many contemporary writers spoke of crop failures, earthquakes, tsunamis, dry fogs & corrupted air. There are also mentions of fireballs falling from the sky. The mythology associated with earlier plagues would also support a cometary origin.
It seems fairly certain therefore that the Earth was peppered with bits of comet during the 1340's & that plant-life suffered as a consequence. This has to be at least a contributory factor to the rate at which the plague spread. For the rest, I'll leave you to come to your own conclusions - but read the book anyway.
