Great Plague of London, 1665

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SS22422701

Title page illustration from A Journal of the Plague Year, a novel by Daniel Defoe, published in 1722. The novel is an account of one man's experiences of the year 1665, in which the Great Plague or the bubonic plague struck the city of London. It is presented as an eyewitness account, however Defoe was only five years old in 1665; the book itself was published under the initials H. F. and is probably based on the journals of Defoe's uncle, Henry Foe. The Great Plague (1665-66) was the last major epidemic of the bubonic plague to occur in the Kingdom of England (part of modern-day United Kingdom). The Great Plague killed an estimated 100,000 people, about 15% of London's population.

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