At the height of WWI, history's most lethal influenza virus erupted in an army camp in Kansas, moved east with American troops, then exploded, killing as many as 100 million people worldwide. It killed more people in twenty-four months than AIDS killed in twenty-four years, more in a year than the Black Death killed in a century. But this was not the Middle Ages, and 1918 marked the first collision of science and epidemic disease. Magisterial in its breadth of perspective and depth of research and now revised to reflect the ...
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At the height of WWI, history's most lethal influenza virus erupted in an army camp in Kansas, moved east with American troops, then exploded, killing as many as 100 million people worldwide. It killed more people in twenty-four months than AIDS killed in twenty-four years, more in a year than the Black Death killed in a century. But this was not the Middle Ages, and 1918 marked the first collision of science and epidemic disease. Magisterial in its breadth of perspective and depth of research and now revised to reflect the growing danger of the avian flu, "The Great Influenza" is ultimately a tale of triumph amid tragedy, which provides us with a precise and sobering model as we confront the epidemics looming on our own horizon. John M Barry has written a new afterword for this edition that brings us up to speed on the terrible threat of the avian flu and suggests ways in which we might head off another flu pandemic.
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The book reminds of the helpful datum that 97% of human DNA is junk, but the other 3% --wow. This book has the same profile, though different proportions. About 50% of it is useful, topical, and follows the science and epidemiology of what happened and why. The first 85 pages on the professionalization of American medicine and the origins of the field of Public Health are relevant enough that they are included in the count of useful content. The other 50% consists of melodramatic recreation of conversations that may or may not have taken place; the inner feelings of disappointed scientists, and a 200-page cliffhanger that never goes anywhere. I found myself skipping over paragraph after paragraph devoted to irrelevant topics such as the details of a scientist's fifth job offer from University of Iowa, or his son's difficulties in high school. The book won lots of prizes, and there might not be any better way to quickly assimilate what happened in 1918 and its similarity to today -- the 200 pages of on-topic content is really good.
Yolanda S. M
May 26, 2020
laspagnola
Excellent book. Reminds me of hearing of tragedy of loss of relative in 1918 Spanish Flu.