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A review by charles__
Pale Rider: The Spanish Flu of 1918 and How it Changed the World by Laura Spinney
3.0
Wide ranging exploration of the devastating, nearly-forgotten H1N1 flu pandemic that broke out at the end of WWI.
This was an advanced/intermediate-level work on the 1918 flu pandemic. Having advanced education and a general knowledge of early 20th Century history, particularly the history of the aftermath of World War I would be needed to really leverage its contents.
I have a keen interest in epidemiology. In pursuing that interest I’ve read several books on the mis-named Spanish flu of 1918. Spinney’s book is a short, wide ranging survey of the disaster. It covers the science, history and the effect of that plague on politics, religion, population and society. It takes a global view, which is uncommon. To the extent to which I’m familiar, all of the covered points and examples use the current best academic research. At points I was disappointed by the depth of the discussions. For example, I wished for a longer more detailed analysis of the effect of the pandemic on the Russian Civil War (another interest of mine). However, in retrospect I generally came to appreciate the breadth of the work. It exposed historical and geo-political relationships of the pandemic which I did not suspect. However, there were sections that were either of little interest to me, or I thought were a reach. For example, the section devoted to long-term effects of the pandemic on global mental illnesses and art and literature felt squishy in comparison to previous historical and technical sections.
My book was a modest 350-pages. This did not feel like a lot considering the ground being covered. It had an original UK copyright of 2017. Generally, reading went quickly.
Laura Spinney is a British science journalist and writer of both fiction and non-fiction books.
Spinney’s writing is very good. Her experience as a scientific journalist shows through. In addition, her original publisher Jonathan Cape (Penguin) is renowned for the prowess of their editors and proofreaders. The prose is clear, concise and I could find no errors. The footnotes were particularly well done, although I would have liked a separate bibliography. The writing had a very British aspect to it. In addition, a sophisticated vocabulary, including medical and biological technical terms was used. Some readers may have difficulty with some sections.
The book made good use of illustrations and maps. The included pictures were excellent. They were artistic. The maps were more akin to info-graphics. They were professionally done.
The book was broken-up into eight (8) sections and a separate important Afterward. Each of the sections addressed an aspect of the pandemic. Sections were divided into between two (2) and six (6) chapters. Chapters included at least one detailed illustrative anecdote. A global perspective was taken to the pandemic. In addition, to the pandemic's history, present and future developments are addressed. Typically, my readings on it were restricted to the: historical effect on the English-speaking world, flu epidemiology, and flu virology (H1N1 vs. H5N1 flus). If I have a subjective objection to the book, it was the allocation of scarce pages to chapters. For example, Part Seven: The Post-Flu World addresses the attributable effects of the flu for up to 10-years after the pandemic. This section shares chapters on a speculation of how the Treaty of Versailles was affected by flu-suffering delegations and on the post-epidemic appearance of previously unobserved or rare mental illnesses. The former I found very interesting, while I took no interest in the later. I also thought the pandemic’s effect on Dashiell Hammett’s creation of the hard-boiled detective genre of literature to be quite speculative. However, the historical and technical chapters were very good. Some were brilliant. The present day and future efforts by the WHO to prevent or mitigate future flu pandemics was current.
The book assumes a historical background on the period and some knowledge of biology. It is not an introductory text. I've already read several books on the Spanish Flu. It is an asset for folks looking to increase their breadth of knowledge on the subject. For example, I knew quite a bit about effects of the pandemic on the Anglo-west. The book added to my understanding of it on: India, parts of Asia, South America and Africa. However, I was skeptical about some of the non-historical and biological sections. In summary, I found it a worthy but not easy read for those interested in broadening their understanding of the 1918 Flu Pandemic and potential flu epidemics.
Readers interested in an introduction to the Spanish flu pandemic might try America's Forgotten Pandemic: The Influenza of 1918. Previously, this was the best book I’d read on the subject.
This was an advanced/intermediate-level work on the 1918 flu pandemic. Having advanced education and a general knowledge of early 20th Century history, particularly the history of the aftermath of World War I would be needed to really leverage its contents.
I have a keen interest in epidemiology. In pursuing that interest I’ve read several books on the mis-named Spanish flu of 1918. Spinney’s book is a short, wide ranging survey of the disaster. It covers the science, history and the effect of that plague on politics, religion, population and society. It takes a global view, which is uncommon. To the extent to which I’m familiar, all of the covered points and examples use the current best academic research. At points I was disappointed by the depth of the discussions. For example, I wished for a longer more detailed analysis of the effect of the pandemic on the Russian Civil War (another interest of mine). However, in retrospect I generally came to appreciate the breadth of the work. It exposed historical and geo-political relationships of the pandemic which I did not suspect. However, there were sections that were either of little interest to me, or I thought were a reach. For example, the section devoted to long-term effects of the pandemic on global mental illnesses and art and literature felt squishy in comparison to previous historical and technical sections.
My book was a modest 350-pages. This did not feel like a lot considering the ground being covered. It had an original UK copyright of 2017. Generally, reading went quickly.
Laura Spinney is a British science journalist and writer of both fiction and non-fiction books.
Spinney’s writing is very good. Her experience as a scientific journalist shows through. In addition, her original publisher Jonathan Cape (Penguin) is renowned for the prowess of their editors and proofreaders. The prose is clear, concise and I could find no errors. The footnotes were particularly well done, although I would have liked a separate bibliography. The writing had a very British aspect to it. In addition, a sophisticated vocabulary, including medical and biological technical terms was used. Some readers may have difficulty with some sections.
The book made good use of illustrations and maps. The included pictures were excellent. They were artistic. The maps were more akin to info-graphics. They were professionally done.
The book was broken-up into eight (8) sections and a separate important Afterward. Each of the sections addressed an aspect of the pandemic. Sections were divided into between two (2) and six (6) chapters. Chapters included at least one detailed illustrative anecdote. A global perspective was taken to the pandemic. In addition, to the pandemic's history, present and future developments are addressed. Typically, my readings on it were restricted to the: historical effect on the English-speaking world, flu epidemiology, and flu virology (H1N1 vs. H5N1 flus). If I have a subjective objection to the book, it was the allocation of scarce pages to chapters. For example, Part Seven: The Post-Flu World addresses the attributable effects of the flu for up to 10-years after the pandemic. This section shares chapters on a speculation of how the Treaty of Versailles was affected by flu-suffering delegations and on the post-epidemic appearance of previously unobserved or rare mental illnesses. The former I found very interesting, while I took no interest in the later. I also thought the pandemic’s effect on Dashiell Hammett’s creation of the hard-boiled detective genre of literature to be quite speculative. However, the historical and technical chapters were very good. Some were brilliant. The present day and future efforts by the WHO to prevent or mitigate future flu pandemics was current.
The book assumes a historical background on the period and some knowledge of biology. It is not an introductory text. I've already read several books on the Spanish Flu. It is an asset for folks looking to increase their breadth of knowledge on the subject. For example, I knew quite a bit about effects of the pandemic on the Anglo-west. The book added to my understanding of it on: India, parts of Asia, South America and Africa. However, I was skeptical about some of the non-historical and biological sections. In summary, I found it a worthy but not easy read for those interested in broadening their understanding of the 1918 Flu Pandemic and potential flu epidemics.
Readers interested in an introduction to the Spanish flu pandemic might try America's Forgotten Pandemic: The Influenza of 1918. Previously, this was the best book I’d read on the subject.