Book info

• Title Crypt
• Author Alice Roberts
• Year 2024
• Genre Non-Fiction

The history of the Middle Ages is typically the story of the rich and powerful, but archaeology represents another way of interrogating our history. By using cutting-edge science to examine human remains and burials, it is possible to gain a new understanding of the past – one that is more intimate and inclusive than ever before. The seven stories in Crypt are not comforting tales. We meet the patients at one of the earliest hospitals in England and the victims of the St Brice’s Day Massacre. We see a society struggling to make sense of disease, disability and death, as incurable epidemics sweep through medieval Europe. We learn of a protracted battle between Church and State, and come face to face with the archers who went down with the Mary Rose.

Thoughts

Rounding out Alice’s trilogy of books focused on what we can find out from the bones and burials of the past, this one brings us even closer to the modern time - but also leans in to topics around illness and disease. There are obvious big topics covered, like the plague, but also very interesting insights into leprosy and sexually transmitted diseases. It’s all just tremendously fascinating, sometimes frustrating because you can only guess at what the findings mean, but also amazing at how far we’ve come in our understanding.

Rating: 5 / 5