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3.83 AVERAGE
3.83 AVERAGE
The big takeaway was that, as a society, we appear to value power too much and value public health and compassion too little. Not much has really changed in 100 years. The Afterward, written in the 2018 edition of this book, helped me see our current situation through that historical prism. The rest of the book was full of horrifying descriptions about how communities all over the world either coped, or did not. It was a painful and emotionally fraught book in that respect, even though it was just recounting events. At over 500 pages it’s a bit intimidating, too, but it’s broken down into short bites that jump around and keep you wanting more, all the way to the end.
Great book! I learned something new on every page. Provided me with much-needed context for the rise of American medicine.
After reading this book, you will go to Costco and buy enough non-perishables to last you through three months of living locked up in your apartment while the bird flu is decimating the ranks of young, healthy people like you who were too stupid to not prepare for the epidemic.
where did it start? Western Kansas! Why did it spread? mobilizing people for war and cramming them into tight inadequate quarters! Why did we not know? Because of a lack of good science and understanding of germ theory! --=- HOW MUCH of this reminds you of the dynamics of KANSAS today??? ;)
Seriously, though; its a good read. I was expecting more science and sleuthing ala Johnson's "Ghost Map" but the role of human social behavior is writ large in this story. Also, I now understand what scientists mean when they talk about H1N1 and why avian flus are so terrifying!
Seriously, though; its a good read. I was expecting more science and sleuthing ala Johnson's "Ghost Map" but the role of human social behavior is writ large in this story. Also, I now understand what scientists mean when they talk about H1N1 and why avian flus are so terrifying!
So much information to digest in this book! I wanted to learn about the last great pandemic to help cope with our current one, but that type of information is not really presented. Some things are the same, such as disinformation causing additional hardship and suffering. The science was not advanced either, so developing a good vaccine just did not happen in time. The numbers we have had however, are so much worse than what they had 100 years ago - even adjusted for population size. It is a shame that so many had to suffer and die because our leaders failed to do their jobs and governments around the world failed to prepare, and act, to protect citizens. Hoping that the lesson was learned finally, and that we will go forward prepared for the next deadly pandemic that develops.
What a great book! Sometimes non-fiction goes slowly for me because I'm trying to totally absorb all the facts being presented. This book was not like that--I found it very readable and I sure learned a lot about influenza and history. Since this book pre-dated the Covid epidemic, the material included really made me think about how Covid was handled. (I keep saying that only in at least 50 years will we be able to get a reasonably unbiased reporting of what the heck happened in 2020.) The author provided deep insights into what makes a great investigative scientist tick, and he explained technical scientific and medical information in a way easily absorbed by an lay person.
Not particularly engaging. A lot of soliloquizing on the scientific method and the history of certain institutions. More simply, far too much prologue.
I wish I could give this book a more powerful rating one way or the other, but it was really just "eh." I really enjoyed reading the parts about the social impacts of the epidemic and the parts about public health implications on how the government handled the breakouts. If the book had only been about those aspects of the epidemic, I would have torn through this book in a week.
A good portion of this book was about the lesser-known scientists who devoted their lives to finding the germ behind the flu and the vaccination that could prevent it. These parts were not interesting to me. Although I have certainly reaped the benefits of the lifework of these men and women and am very grateful to them for their devotion to their research, I wished that those parts of the book had been edited out.
A good portion of this book was about the lesser-known scientists who devoted their lives to finding the germ behind the flu and the vaccination that could prevent it. These parts were not interesting to me. Although I have certainly reaped the benefits of the lifework of these men and women and am very grateful to them for their devotion to their research, I wished that those parts of the book had been edited out.
More of a focus on the men who were involved with the pandemic- which was less interesting to me than the effects of the pandemic. Much of it was dry and draggy to me, interspersed with fascinating parts about the spread and what life was like during the pandemic. In our own pandemic, right now in Aug. 2020, I was left with the feeling that the US learned nothing at all.
The best book I've read so far this year. This is meticulously researched and written history, but reads like a thriller - the author is a masterful storyteller and presents this story on the personal scale and on the global, in the context of the times and in terms of what a similar pandemic would mean today, and does it so vividly that it's as if you're seeing it yourself. Moving, at times infuriating, at other times very frightening. Everyone should read this.