what authoritative and up to date papers can I read about the cause(s) of the Black Death?

by sylvialouise

I’ve been reading Cohn on yersinia pestis perhaps not being the cause of the Black Death and subsequent waves of plague as well as the plague of Justinian. I gather he is controversial. Who should I read to get opposing perspectives? I want to know the current prevailing theories and questions as well as the cutting edge.

I gather there are recent genetic findings. Are these more preliminary and suggestive, or robust and conclusive? My hard science background is insufficient to read these studies critically.

y_sengaku

I suppose the works of Ole J. Benedictow should be still authorities for the Black death:

  • Benedictow, Ole J. The Black Death 1346-1353: The Complete History. Woodbridge: Boydell Press, 2004; 2nd ed. 2017.
  • ________. 'Yersinia pestis, the Bacterium of Plague, Arose in East Asia. Did it Spread Westwards via the Silk Roads, the Chinese Maritime Expeditions of Zheng He or over the Vast Eurasian Populations of Sylvatic (Wild) Rodents?' Journal of Asian History 47-1 (2013): 1-31.

Alternatively, I'm waiting for the monograph of John Aberth on the Black Death, but what he have published so far is just to update his primary source collection (though very useful).

Aberth, John (ed.). The Black Death, The Great Mortality of 1348-1350 (Bedford Series in History and Culture). 2nd ed. Basingstoke: Palgrave MacMillan, 2016.

I afraid these are most up-to-date and the latest genetic researches have perhaps sill not incorporated in the monograph of the history of the Black Death (I only have the 1st ed. of these books, so I also kinda have to update......).