"One of the most original and harrowing accounts of living through a virulent pandemic . . . as full of meaning about human suffering today as it was when it was written." –
The Daily Beast "A brilliant account of the last major outbreak of bubonic plague in Britain–and it can still educate readers three centuries later." –
BBC News "[A] classic of plague literature . . . Camus was inspired by this book in writing
The Plague." –
The Jerusalem Post "So grimly immediate . . . you can practically smell the death and decay." –
The Guardian "A realistic account of the plague's effects on [London]. Defoe's novel still has the power to unsettle–like when he writes about families forced into quarantine due to an infected family member." –
Vulture "Within the texture of Defoe's prose, London becomes a living and suffering being." –
Peter Ackroyd