In Search of History: Scourge of the Black Death  (2005)

Theatrical Release Information:
In Search of History: Scourge of the Black Death

The History Channel's illuminating documentary Scourge of the Black Death carries audiences back to that terrifying year of 542 A.D.: the year of the plague, when the grim reaper swept his scythe across the ruddy European landscape, decimating the hundred million who fell into his path and inaugurating an endless reign of misery. The horror was not unique to that era: it mirrors our postmodern age, when the plague has astonishingly reappeared, threatening mankind anew. With nearly fifteen hundred years of hindsight and the advantage of ancient art, on-location footage, and unearthed testimonies, the historians in this program trace the black death's path in those early years, as it wormed its way from one side on the European continent to another. Scientists also appear in interviews, detailing with contemporary insights how the disease spreads itself, biologically, from one individual to another, and exactly what today's physicians are doing (and can do) to halt its progress. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide