Defoe's fictionalized account of the Great Plague of London makes
for harrowing reading. Most scholars think that Defoe used the
first hand accounts of his uncle, who lived through the plague.

In any case, it is estimated that 100,000 died out of a total
population of about 400,000 to 500,000. Many of the wealthier
citizens fled the city, so the poor were much more affected.
The disease itself was horrific - a terrible way to die.

Defoe's book really gives you a sense of what it would
have been like to live through such a catastrophe.

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