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Crypt

Life, Death and Disease in the Middle Ages and Beyond

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Crypt

By: Alice Roberts
Narrated by: Alice Roberts
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About this listen

 THE SUNDAY TIMES NO. 1 BESTSELLER
CHOSEN BY WATERSTONES AS ONE OF THEIR BEST HISTORY BOOKS OF 2024

'Compulsive . . . A wonderful display of how modern archaeology can bring hidden histories to life' Daily Telegraph

'Gripping . . . I found it hard to put down' Evening Standard

'Another really good book from archaeologist Alice Roberts . . . Helps you understand the facts on a technical level, but also makes you feel them in your bones' New Scientist

'Robert's reflections on Thomas Becket and Canterbury Cathedral are especially entertaining . . . Fascinating' Spectator

The new book by Sunday Times bestselling author of Ancestors and Buried - the final instalment in Professor Alice Roberts' acclaimed trilogy.

We can unlock secrets from bones preserved for centuries in tombs, graves and crypts.

The history of the Middle Ages is typically the story of the rich and powerful, there’s barely a written note for most people’s lives. Archaeology represents another way of interrogating our history. By using cutting-edge science to examine human remains and burials, it is possible to unearth details about how individuals lived and died that give us 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 that led to the murder of Thomas Becket and the destruction of the most famous tomb in England. And we come face to face with the archers who went down with Henry VIII’s favourite ship, the Mary Rose.

Beautifully written and expertly researched by Professor Alice Roberts, Crypt is packed with thrilling discoveries that will make you see the history of Britain afresh. Archaeology Best of 2024 Biological Sciences Contagious Diseases Europe Evolution & Genetics Genetics Great Britain Physical Illness & Disease Science England Thought-Provoking Middle Ages Military

Critic reviews

'An addictive picture of medieval Britain from a cutting-edge perspective . . . Roberts is a brilliant guide to the cutting-edge fusion of archaeology and genetics that is doing something special: revealing new facts about a past most people consider dead and buried'
‘Compulsive . . . A wonderful display of how modern archaeology can bring hidden histories to life. Crypt, in fact, is often as much a story about archaeological research techniques as it is one about the Middle Ages. As Roberts surveys the medieval graves, she deftly explains the processes through which the archaeologists working on them came to their discoveries . . . one really gets the sense here of being at the vanguard of the discipline . . . It’s fascinating’ (Pablo Scheffer)
‘Sainthood, leprosy, Paget’s Disease, the Black Death, the drowned archers of the Mary Rose and anchoresses are all given thoughtful scrutiny, and Roberts’s reflections on Thomas Becket and Canterbury Cathedral are especially entertaining . . . Overall the book is fascinating, and you certainly get your money’s worth’
‘Another year, another really good book from archaeologist Alice Roberts . . . For me, the chapter on the Black Death was a highlight. Roberts weaves together historical accounts of the epidemic with the more recent research . . . Helps you understand the facts on a technical level, but also makes you feel them in your bones’
(Michael Marshall)
‘Demonstrates that science can now tell us what killed our predecessors and, aided by historical records, reveal how society treated them. It is detailed and research-heavy but related so engagingly – from time to time Roberts seems suddenly to turn and speak directly to camera – you want to share nuggets with whomever is around . . . She is our renaissance woman, our divided culture’s missing link, and huge fun too'
‘Perfectly riveting reading . . . truly fascinating case studies . . . Prof Roberts is an engaging academic and broadcaster who loves and knows her stuff . . . Crypt focuses more specifically on disease and injury and how scientific advances can help us understand both the cause and context of a person’s death . . . Prof Roberts carries the reader with her, out to the mournful burial sites then back to the labs. Many questions are left hanging, but there are some satisfying conclusions. She reports on the latest international experiments providing supporting evidence . . . she is good at explaining complicated science clearly’ (Bronwen Riley)
‘Roberts coaxes incredible stories from the skeletons’
All stars
Most relevant
I learnt so much about disease and the history of it that I really hadn’t expected to. It’s a wonderful book.

Thoroughly thought provoking

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Another fascinating book by Professor Alice Roberts, looking this time at what can be discovered by examining medieval skeletons and graves. There's more medical detail than I'd expected, and some aspects of the "story" required discussion of far more recent discoveries, but it was all presented clearly and accessibly, and added to the interest for me.
As a very competent communicator of science, the Prof is an excellent narrator of her own work. I wish more of my university tutors had been so eloquent and engaging while lecturing.

Fascinating but pretty detailed

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I was deeply fascinated by the look at history from the bones and out into a wider context. And the fact that the only mammals that can get leprosy are humans and nine banded armadillos

A fascinating look at the lives of ordinary people

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I learned a lot and enjoyed the stories as well as the facts about these various ‘bones’.

Highly recommended! Though the book isn’t about crypts… it’s about the people who were buried within…

Brilliant, educational and entertaining!

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Loved listening to Dr Alice Robert’s. Although a lot of the information was a lot to take in ( not having a medical background) The author made it easy to get the gist of the background how bones are a source of so much information of historical events and how they are related to the modern day.
Loved this book.

So interesting!

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