In the winter of 1918, at the height of World War I, history's most lethal influenza virus erupted in an army camp in Kansas, moved east with American troops, then exploded, killing as many as 100 million people worldwide. It killed more people in twenty-four weeks than AIDS has killed in twenty-four years, more in a year than the Black Death killed in a century. But this was not the Middle Ages, and 1918 marked the first collision between modern science and epidemic disease. Magisterial in its breadth of perspective and depth of research, THE GREAT INFLUENZA weaves together multiple narratives, with characters ranging from William Welch, founder of the Johns Hopkins Medical School, to John D. Rockefeller and Woodrow Wilson. Ultimately a tale of triumph amid tragedy, this crisis provides us with a precise and sobering model as we confront the epidemics looming on our own horizon.
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"Excellent book that describes the history of a pandemic that killed at least 40 million people worldwide in a year's time. Though it was coined, "Spanish Influenza", the flu probablyoriginated in Kansas, the provides a view of the history of medicine in the UnitedStates. " — Jeanne (5 out of 5 stars)
"Excellent book that describes the history of a pandemic that killed at least 40 million people worldwide in a year's time. Though it was coined, "Spanish Influenza", the flu probablyoriginated in Kansas, the provides a view of the history of medicine in the UnitedStates. "
“Scott Brick would make a fine lecturer…Brick’s steady voice perfectly details the state of medical research in the 1800s, underlining the point that it was nonexistent. He allows a slight tinge of incredulity in his voice when he relates that doctors simply did what they had always done, never questioning their practices. When Brick gets to the epidemic itself, which started out of sheer greed and the stupidity of the government in Philadelphia, the listener is ready for it. Be prepared to be horrified.”
" Amazing details and great story telling. Very timely information given the outbreak of the corona virus. Good lessons. "
" I listened to this on audio tape and found it fascinating.If I had been sitting in my living room reading rather than driving, I might have lost interest or fell asleep which I never did driving.The detail and the fascinating people and appalling mistakes held me. "
" fascinating at so many levels. A great history of the practice of medicine in the US, about the terrible influenza of 1918-19 and even the war! "
" Barry does a great job in covering all the basis about how and why the flu was able to spread and kill thousands of people around 1918. My father lived through it as small boy in Philadelphia, a city mentioned often in the book. It was so interesting to hear his own experiences at the time. "
" Reads like a horror novel. Make the move now! :D "
" Interesting history of the 1918 influenza pandemic with additional background on the state of American and world medical practice, education, and research leading up to the turn of the century. "
John M. Barry is a prize-winning and New York Times bestselling author whose books have won several dozen awards. In 2005 the National Academies of Science named The Great Influenza as the year’s outstanding book on science or medicine. His other books have won the Francis Parkman Prize of the Society of American Historians and have been named a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize. He has had considerable influence on both pandemic policy and flood protection. Both the Bush and Obama administrations sought his advice on influenza preparedness and response, and he was a member of the original team which developed plans for non-pharmaceutical interventions to mitigate a pandemic. The National Academies of Science asked him to give the keynote speech at its first international scientific meeting on pandemic influenza, and he was the only non-scientist on a federal government Infectious Disease Board of Experts.
Scott Brick, an acclaimed voice artist, screenwriter, and actor, has performed on film, television, and radio. He attended UCLA and spent ten years in a traveling Shakespeare company. Passionate about the spoken word, he has narrated a wide variety of audiobooks. winning won more than fifty AudioFile Earphones Awards and several of the prestigious Audie Awards. He was named a Golden Voice by AudioFile magazine and the Voice of Choice for 2016 by Booklist magazine.
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