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The Great Influenza: The Epic Story of the 1918 Pandemic
 
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The Great Influenza: The Epic Story of the 1918 Pandemic (Hardcover)

by John M Barry (Author)
3.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (5 customer reviews)

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Product details

  • Hardcover: 560 pages
  • Publisher: Viking Press Inc (1 April 2004)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0670894737
  • ISBN-13: 978-0670894734
  • Product Dimensions: 22.9 x 16.3 x 5.1 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 696,370 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

    Popular in these categories:

    #23 in  Books > History > North America > Early 20th Century 1901-1913
    #70 in  Books > History > World History > 1901-1913

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Product Description

Synopsis
An account of the deadly influenza epidemic of 1918, which took the lives of millions of people around the world, examines its causes, its impact on early twentieth-century society, and the lasting implications of the crisis.

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18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars The Great Influenza: The Epic Story of the Deadliest Plague, 23 Nov 2005
By Robert Kahn (Abingdon, England, UK) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Great Influenza: The Epic Story of the Deadliest Plague in History (Paperback)
This is a really impressive book that took seven years to write--not only covering the 1918-1919 influenza epidemic, but also how scientists tackle problems at the bench, as well as the personalities behind the rise of American medicine. As Mike Davis says in "The Monster at Our Door: The Global Threat of Avian Flu," Barry has written the best book on the influenza pandemic of 1918.

Although the book is more than 500 pages, it reads more like a novel than a study in medical history. Given the increasing likelihood of another influenza pandemic from the H5N1 strain of avian flu, it is helpful to see how the 1918 pandemic began in Kansas and spread thoughout the world. There is a careful explanation of how viruses develop and spread, but no previous knowledge is assumed.

Barry is especially good on the influence of World War I in stopping national governments from being open about how the flu was killing more people than the fighting. The only reason why we call the 1918 pandemic, "the Spanish flu" is because Spain was the only country that wasn't censoring the importance of the flu. Everywhere else it was "unpatriotic" to be honest. What emerges is the importance of public health authorities being honest or else a situation is created where the public does not trust the government--and rightly so.

As the Co-ordinator of Avian Flu Action (www.avianfluaction.org) I found this book especially helpful in setting out the mistakes that were made in the last great flu pandemic, so that hopefully they will not be made again. As Barry points out: "Every expert on influenza agrees that the ability of the influenza virus to reassort genes means that another pandemic not only can happen. It almost certainly will happen"(p.449).

Reading this book will give you a good understanding of what a flu pandemic is, and how to react if another one hits us.

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17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars The book on the great influenza pandemic of 1918, 18 Oct 2004
By Kurt A. Johnson (Marseilles, IL USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 50 REVIEWER)   
In 1918, the world was hit with the emergence of a new and deadly disease, one that struck down vast multitudes, and killed many - often killing young adults in the prime of life. But, this was not a wholly new disease; it was merely a variation on that perennial nuisance the flu! In a 24 week period, this disease killed more people than AIDS has killed in the last 24 years. This is the story of the last great and deadly pandemic to sweep the world, the Influenza of 1918.

This is a good thick book, one in which the author goes to great lengths to give the reader a good grasp on the issues and people involved - heck, the 1918 pandemic isn't even referenced until chapter six, and serious discussion of it doesn't begin until chapter fourteen! But, that said, the author does give the reader an excellent understanding into what happened in 1918 - what happened and why, what it meant to subsequent history (did American President Wilson contract that disease, and did it affect the Versailles peace process?), and what it means to us today.

Yes, if you are interested in the great influenza pandemic of 1918, then I would say that this is the book for you. It has all of the information you could want, and it presents it in an interesting, if not gripping, manner. I highly recommend this book!

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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars Impressive, USA orientated, very detailed, 9 Jan 2008
By Bluebell (UK) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)   
This review is from: The Great Influenza: The Epic Story of the Deadliest Plague in History (Paperback)
This is an impressive piece of scholarship, but I have to admit skimming many of the pages as I found the book over-burdened with detail. The book would, I think, interest US readers more than others as the story is largely told from that country's perspective and all the main medical/scientific players worked in the USA. Many chapters are devoted to the biographies of these workers, preceded by the history of medicine from Aristotle culminating in the blossoming of medical training in the USA. I felt I had to plough through hundreds of pages of background material before the "Epic" started. There is a tremendous amount of information in the book, not just historical/biographical, but also very detailed descriptions of the evolution, replication and categorization of viruses; and how vaccines were finally produced.

If I appear critical of the book, that is not my intention, I'm just warning people who might want to know about the 1918 flu epidemic unburdened by so much background material.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

1.0 out of 5 stars Heavily orientated to USA to the point of xenophobia
Heralded by some as the 'greatest work on the 1918 flu pandemic' this book is in reality a typicaly USA centric xenophobic offering that dedicates more pages to describing how US... Read more
Published 23 days ago by Andrew Elliott

5.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating, terrifying, detailed, and extremely important
It killed more people in 6 months than the Black Death killed in a century. People who were young and strong were the most likely to die. In the US, 650,000 people died. Read more
Published 21 months ago by Thomas Paul

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