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3.83 AVERAGE
3.83 AVERAGE
What an epic tome.
Easy to read tone, albeit a tad America-Centric for such an international event.
Recommended to anyone interested in the science and politics behind the 1918 flu pandemic.
Worrying conclusions in relation to preparedness and likely impact of future pandemics.
Easy to read tone, albeit a tad America-Centric for such an international event.
Recommended to anyone interested in the science and politics behind the 1918 flu pandemic.
Worrying conclusions in relation to preparedness and likely impact of future pandemics.
Very scary book but quite dry in parts. Still a fascinating study of a topic that gets breezed over (amazingly) in most history classes.
I listened to this one on audiobook, which is probably good because I read a review about the footnotes not being that helpful, and one of my pet peeves is making me read footnotes that don't add anything to the book.
Anyway, this book does not have to be this long. The author clearly did his research, but way too much is included in this. I picked it up expecting a book just about the virus, and instead got maybe 40-50% of interesting epidemiology and history of it. The beginning 30% and last 20% of this book discuss the history of medical education in the US, political figures and standings at the time, and more information about various characters who, sure, contributed to the main story here, but whom I'm not really interested in hearing about. The writing is also definitely repetitive - if I had to hear the phrase "it was only influenza" ONE MORE TIME...
Although, it was interesting reading this with knowing about the pandemic we all experienced in 2020. The author speculated about the next pandemic, and hoped that we would prepare and be ready, and we weren't.
Anyway, this book does not have to be this long. The author clearly did his research, but way too much is included in this. I picked it up expecting a book just about the virus, and instead got maybe 40-50% of interesting epidemiology and history of it. The beginning 30% and last 20% of this book discuss the history of medical education in the US, political figures and standings at the time, and more information about various characters who, sure, contributed to the main story here, but whom I'm not really interested in hearing about. The writing is also definitely repetitive - if I had to hear the phrase "it was only influenza" ONE MORE TIME...
Although, it was interesting reading this with knowing about the pandemic we all experienced in 2020. The author speculated about the next pandemic, and hoped that we would prepare and be ready, and we weren't.
Five stars because it goes in great details and give a better perspective of the time, age of medicine, and fevers of the world then I was imagining this book would cover. It’s long. But very worth it.
dark
informative
reflective
slow-paced
challenging
dark
informative
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
First of all, I’m not one to normally write a review but I feel this worth mentioning as It may save a potential reader some frustration and a lot of time.
From my perspective only a small portion of this book was actually about the Spanish flu pandemic. The book should really be titled “The History of Medicine and Virology” as related to the Spanish flu pandemic.
While it’s hard for me to be critical of a book that must have required countless hours of research, it could have been edited way down if the goal of the book was really to write about the Spanish flu pandemic.
All that said, I did learn some very interesting things from the book. I listened to it on audiobooks, and at 19 hours it’s taking on a lot subject matter that you may not be looking for or even interested in.
From my perspective only a small portion of this book was actually about the Spanish flu pandemic. The book should really be titled “The History of Medicine and Virology” as related to the Spanish flu pandemic.
While it’s hard for me to be critical of a book that must have required countless hours of research, it could have been edited way down if the goal of the book was really to write about the Spanish flu pandemic.
All that said, I did learn some very interesting things from the book. I listened to it on audiobooks, and at 19 hours it’s taking on a lot subject matter that you may not be looking for or even interested in.
Well worth reading. It explained a lot of what is happening today -- including the difference between a coronavirus and influenza. It also explained in great detail what happened to cause the Spanish flu to become so lethal and then not. I am sitting here at home after having panic shopped at four or five supermarkets to stock enough food while my entire family is home under a new martial law curfew of 8 pm. So it is not hard to visualize the world Barry describes. While people are not dying in the streets, I have been reading about the Chinese and lately the Italians dying in hospitals and at home and it is sobering. So I recommend this book both because it is so informative and because it provides context and contrast.
I started this book at the beginning of 2021. I’m so glad I did not get through it then, and waited until now.
Listened on audiobook, otherwise wouldn’t have found it interesting enough to read such a substantial book. Many phrases seemed repetitive, and the length could have been edited while still communicating the story adequately.