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A review by citylifejc
The Great Influenza: The Epic Story of the Deadliest Plague in History by John M. Barry
3.0
Ok I read this hoping to get some perspective on this pandemic from learning about the last one. This flu was really nasty and in an undeniable in your face way that probably made it much harder to ignore than so many citizens seem ready to do with Covid - it kicked in only a day or two after exposure and could kill almost instantly, or send victims with blue faces shooting blood from their eyes - really terrifying stuff. It killed the young more than any other age group (in the midst of WWI no less), so our messed up society would’ve had a harder time ignoring it. And the federal government and the press and the time TOTALLY IGNORED OR COVERED IT UP which is also crazy
Unfortunately this author did a lot of research about science and medicine at the time and decided to relate ever single detail of multiple people’s biographies and medical careers all of it without ever figuring out how to make that information compelling or even TIE IT TO THE FLU PANDEMIC. He spends nearly a 100 pages telling us about the career of a guy who helped found John Hopkins who then gets sidelined as soon as the pandemic hits and PLAYS NO ROLE DURING IT. actually basically no scientists or doctors played a significant role during it because it hit like a blitzkrieg and at the time it was beyond their capacity to isolate or treat at the time. I think the medical history is interesting to a point (terrifying to realize how recent modern medicine truly is and how the major treatment for everything before that was bloodletting) but you need to figure out what info is relevant to narrative you’re trying to tell.
I’m sure there’s a better history of the 1918 pandemic out there. I did learn a lot but I was very frustrated a lot of the time as well.
Unfortunately this author did a lot of research about science and medicine at the time and decided to relate ever single detail of multiple people’s biographies and medical careers all of it without ever figuring out how to make that information compelling or even TIE IT TO THE FLU PANDEMIC. He spends nearly a 100 pages telling us about the career of a guy who helped found John Hopkins who then gets sidelined as soon as the pandemic hits and PLAYS NO ROLE DURING IT. actually basically no scientists or doctors played a significant role during it because it hit like a blitzkrieg and at the time it was beyond their capacity to isolate or treat at the time. I think the medical history is interesting to a point (terrifying to realize how recent modern medicine truly is and how the major treatment for everything before that was bloodletting) but you need to figure out what info is relevant to narrative you’re trying to tell.
I’m sure there’s a better history of the 1918 pandemic out there. I did learn a lot but I was very frustrated a lot of the time as well.