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3.82 AVERAGE
3.82 AVERAGE
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.
3.5 stars. (I wish Goodreads would let you do a half star!) I read the first 100 pages right after Luke was born and finished the rest of the book starting a couple of weeks ago. I wish I had read it all at once, because I completely forgot most of the information in the first section (including introduction to the scientists discussed in the book).
Overall, it was a good and chilling account of the 1918 flu epidemic. However, for being written in a very narrative format there was a definite lack of plot direction and lack of a 'main character.' He would also often abruptly skip around to different stories and scientific discussions, and I didn't really like the way it flowed. Another thing that annoyed me is that he included the phrase "after all, it was only influenza. Just influenza." or something along those lines approximately 6,785 times in the book and it drove me crazy after awhile. A little melodramatic, but in the end I don't regret reading it. I probably won't read it again.
Overall, it was a good and chilling account of the 1918 flu epidemic. However, for being written in a very narrative format there was a definite lack of plot direction and lack of a 'main character.' He would also often abruptly skip around to different stories and scientific discussions, and I didn't really like the way it flowed. Another thing that annoyed me is that he included the phrase "after all, it was only influenza. Just influenza." or something along those lines approximately 6,785 times in the book and it drove me crazy after awhile. A little melodramatic, but in the end I don't regret reading it. I probably won't read it again.
Excellent book!! So many parallels from then to now. Very interesting.
Engaging read. So well written through out you forget you are reading non-fiction.
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Man, 19th century medicine sure did not set us up well for a pandemic early in the 20th.
Parallels to 2020: inept federal response, silly unrest about masks and social distancing, concern about a second more deadly wave in the fall...
Parallels to 2020: inept federal response, silly unrest about masks and social distancing, concern about a second more deadly wave in the fall...
Too much about the doctors and their histories and future. I skipped over stuff as I just wanted to read about the 1918 flu. The part about the flu was good
I found this book really interesting, and now I know why they say to rest when you get sick. It made a life or death difference in surviving this 1918 outbreak which targeted the most healthy people with the best immune systems at the prime of their lives, including my grandmother's sister.
I have always been interested in reading about infectious diseases and I was hoping to really enjoy this book. The chapters that were actually about the flu were quite interesting and I learned that so much of what happened in 1918 feels similar to our current COVID-19 pandemic even though it is a different virus. However, the book included too much unnecessary, detailed biographical information about too many people that could’ve made for its own, separate book. I found those sections a bit dry and boring to get through.