Understanding the Great Plaque of London 1665 through the diary of Samuel Pepys

The work of Samuel Pepys it can be said offers one of the best contemporary accounts of the Great Plague of London in 1665. Through the study of his extracts dating from the 30th of April to the 30th of November one is able to understand the sheer scale of the Plague. However the extract allows us to learn more about human reactions to disease, not only in the context of the 1665 Plague but with other epidemics that have occurred all around the world. Two other significant 'plagues' are that of the Black Death and the present day virus, Aids. By comparison of the 1665 Plague the Black…