The Great Plague of 1665 as a Study in Human Reactions to Disaster.

Daniel Defoe's "A Journal of The Plague Year" is reviewed in the light of disaster studies some three centuries later. Familiar disaster phenomena are described, as well as events that were different or perhaps unique. Leadership by civic authorities is noted. The conclusion is one that is familiar in this nuclear age, viz. survivors "should stand stock-still... and not shift".