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This is a fascinating detective history that traces the causes and far-reaching consequences of the infamous plague outbreak that spread across the European continent from 1347 to 1351. Using sources as diverse as monastic manuscripts and dendrochronological studies (the method of measuring tree rings), historians have shown the ecological horrors wrought by the rodent-, flea-borne bacilli, killing at least one in three Europeans, wiping out countless villages and towns, and shaking the foundations of medieval society and civilization.