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3.82 AVERAGE
3.82 AVERAGE
2.5 stars. Possibly 2 if I’m feeling less generous. I wanted to like this book a lot more than I actually did. It could have used some additional editing for sure. I did learn a lot in this book (the state of American medicine 100+ years ago was HEINOUS; it’s called “Spanish Flu” because Spain was the only country to initially report on the pandemic due to press restrictions in the U.S., U.K., and France) but the 70+ years of backstory was too much. I felt like this book got very in the weeds with both the pre-1918 backstory (although I realize obviously some context about the state of American medicine at that time is warranted) and with the actual science. I kept thinking to myself “PLEASE DUMB IT DOWN A LITTLE” because between all the convoluted history and the science minutiae I was very confused and annoyed at this book. I might be feeling more generous had I not read this book while in a pandemic, though. The parallels between 1918 and 2020 were so striking.
TLDR: I thought this book would be more focused on 1918-1920 and the actual pandemic (I did find the Philadelphia sections interesting though) instead of an overarching review of who’s who in American science from 1850-1920.
TLDR: I thought this book would be more focused on 1918-1920 and the actual pandemic (I did find the Philadelphia sections interesting though) instead of an overarching review of who’s who in American science from 1850-1920.
This book is a fascinating look at the 1918 pandemic flu. Among other things, I learned that
2) Woodrow Wilson got the flu at the exact wrong time. He got it in the middle of the WWI peace talks. Because of it, France was allowed to screw over Germany, and WWII was born.
3) Our current federal government is doing exactly what they shouldn't be doing. The most important thing in a pandemic is to tell the truth. They're in good company; the Wilson administration didn't tell the truth either.
I read this book during the COVID-19 pandemic, so it hit home more than it might have if I'd read it back in January.
One thing that would have helped with this book is a list of who's who and where they worked.
Spoiler
1) the pandemic likely started in Haskell County, Kansas2) Woodrow Wilson got the flu at the exact wrong time. He got it in the middle of the WWI peace talks. Because of it, France was allowed to screw over Germany, and WWII was born.
3) Our current federal government is doing exactly what they shouldn't be doing. The most important thing in a pandemic is to tell the truth. They're in good company; the Wilson administration didn't tell the truth either.
I read this book during the COVID-19 pandemic, so it hit home more than it might have if I'd read it back in January.
One thing that would have helped with this book is a list of who's who and where they worked.
Very fascinating on the history of the 1918 flu epidemic, with a lot of general history of medicine gems as well. I enjoyed learning some about the scientists and doctors involved, but the frequent mini biographies made it hard for me to keep my attention on the book.
The Great Influenza tells an interesting story about the title illness and how it produced pivotal changes in modern medicine. From what the book says, medical practice was really just in its infancy in the early 1900s and a lot of what we take for granted now was still unknown when this pandemic hit.
The book covers the birth of modern medicine prior to this major incident, the years when the disease spread and the political and social forces that influenced how fast and how wide the damage was, particularly in the US and Europe. Along the way it describes a number of major figures in medicine and has some intriguing political asides.
While the subject matter is fascinating I found the author's writing style a bit wooden and sometimes too dry. Some better editing would have made this a five-star book.
The book covers the birth of modern medicine prior to this major incident, the years when the disease spread and the political and social forces that influenced how fast and how wide the damage was, particularly in the US and Europe. Along the way it describes a number of major figures in medicine and has some intriguing political asides.
While the subject matter is fascinating I found the author's writing style a bit wooden and sometimes too dry. Some better editing would have made this a five-star book.
“So the final lesson of 1918, a simple one yet one most difficult to execute, is that those who occupy positions of authority must lessen the panic that can alienate all within a society. Society cannot function if it is every man for himself. By definition, civilization cannot survive that. Those in authority must retain the public’s trust. The way to do that is to distort nothing, to put the best face on nothing, to try to manipulate no one. Lincoln said that first, and best. A leader must make whatever horror exists concrete. Only then will people be able to break it apart.”
This book is filled with information from so many different perspectives from the 1918 pandemic and practices leading up to it and after it. It was long, so sometimes I honestly felt bored. I was determined to finish it so I kept reading and learning along the way. Reading the afterword, 13 months into the COVID-19 pandemic is just plain eerie. Things Barry suggested might happen in the next pandemic have happed, except that this is a coronavirus like SARS, not an influenza virus.
This book is filled with information from so many different perspectives from the 1918 pandemic and practices leading up to it and after it. It was long, so sometimes I honestly felt bored. I was determined to finish it so I kept reading and learning along the way. Reading the afterword, 13 months into the COVID-19 pandemic is just plain eerie. Things Barry suggested might happen in the next pandemic have happed, except that this is a coronavirus like SARS, not an influenza virus.
I skipped several hundred pages because it was not my kind of interest to read lengthy descriptions of how a lung works or who was in charge in a certain laboratory in 1919 and where that certain someone had studied and with whom and why.
The book is obviously well researched and surely deserves all the praise that was mentioned on the cover. But the read itself was rather tedious and I just read the sections that interested me - which was the evolution of the virus. Sorry, John M. Barry. And I would absolutely recommend that chapters have titles - I would have read more when I could´ve had just an idea what a chapter contained.
The book is obviously well researched and surely deserves all the praise that was mentioned on the cover. But the read itself was rather tedious and I just read the sections that interested me - which was the evolution of the virus. Sorry, John M. Barry. And I would absolutely recommend that chapters have titles - I would have read more when I could´ve had just an idea what a chapter contained.
Apparently there aren't many comprehensive accounts of the 1918 - 1920 influenza pandemic and this one is highly regarded. Oh well . . .
If you want to understand what is going on during the current COVID-19/coronavirus pandemic, read this book. The narrative is engaging and the science understandable for the lay reader. The parallels to what we are currently experiencing are incredibly striking. And the measures that he describes in the final chapter as being necessary to deal with a lethal pandemic are exactly what we are living today. I highly recommend this book. This is exactly what good history writing is supposed to look like.