Mention Books Conducive To The Great Influenza: The Story of the Deadliest Pandemic in History
| Original Title: | The Great Influenza: The Epic Story of the Deadliest Plague in History |
| ISBN: | 0143036491 (ISBN13: 9780143036494) |
| Edition Language: | English |
John M. Barry
Paperback | Pages: 546 pages Rating: 3.97 | 20503 Users | 1982 Reviews
Explanation During Books The Great Influenza: The Story of the Deadliest Pandemic in History
At the height of WWI, 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 months than AIDS 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 of science and epidemic disease. Magisterial in its breadth of perspective and depth of research and now revised to reflect the growing danger of the avian flu, The Great Influenza is ultimately a tale of triumph amid tragedy, which provides us with a precise and sobering model as we confront the epidemics looming on our own horizon. John M. Barry has written a new afterword for this edition that brings us up to speed on the terrible threat of the avian flu and suggest ways in which we might head off another flu pandemic.
Identify Containing Books The Great Influenza: The Story of the Deadliest Pandemic in History
| Title | : | The Great Influenza: The Story of the Deadliest Pandemic in History |
| Author | : | John M. Barry |
| Book Format | : | Paperback |
| Book Edition | : | Revised Edition |
| Pages | : | Pages: 546 pages |
| Published | : | October 4th 2005 by Penguin Books (first published February 9th 2004) |
| Categories | : | History. Nonfiction. Science. Health. Medicine. Medical |
Rating Containing Books The Great Influenza: The Story of the Deadliest Pandemic in History
Ratings: 3.97 From 20503 Users | 1982 ReviewsNotice Containing Books The Great Influenza: The Story of the Deadliest Pandemic in History
Like a poorly crafted pop song, this book is full of occasional flashes of intelligence and brilliance, but is brought down to the level of the two star by it's repetitive nature and bogged down by details. Okay, the metaphor doesn't really work with the "bogged down by details" part, but other than that, it's apt.In attempts to create a rhythm, and strike a melodic note with his writing, Barry uses phrases he thinks are poignant to the point of annoyance. It's honestly like that Debbie GibsonThis book had promise, and is good in spots - but the overall product suffers greatly from lack of direction and editorial control. If I could rate the best third of the book, I would give it five stars. The other two thirds of the book suffers substantially from a lack of focus, inclusion of unnecessary information, and overly dramatic narrative. And, to add insult to injury, the footnotes are handled in such a fashion that they become nearly useless.In the afterword, it becomes quite obvious
Started reading a book purportedly about the Spanish Flu, but so far is actually about the history of medical practice in the United States. Also if he calls Johns Hopkins University "The Hopkins" a few more times I'm going to smack him. Or his book, which will be closer to me. (I'm having flashbacks to Sean Wilentz and his freaking "The Democracy.")ETA: 40% in and we're finally starting to deal with the flu epidemic. That's a long set-up section!
I just finished this book and actually did enjoy it. However, I completely agree with your review. Ordinarily bad editing prevents me from proceeding
John Barry is in love with science and we are the beneficiaries in this comprehensive account of the influenza epidemic that came at the end of WWI. Some of his prose is quite lyrical when he praises the scientific method and the virtue of rational thinking combined with imagination in some of the researchers he covers.But there are villains as well as heroes here as we enter an earlier time where government did almost nothing while private initiatives and funding allied with individual effort
Beyond five stars. How many books are entertaining, important, engaging and edifying? I can only think of one, this one. I thought this was going to read like a thriller by Michael Crichton or Dan Brown following a plucky single doctor who fights hard for his patients, makes a breakthrough, and saves the day. That's not this book because that's definitely not what happened. The book starts off with a history of medicine. I had a vague idea about this beginning with Hypocrites and then jumping
Pandemics recur, just as history repeats itself, and its all simply a question of how much can be learned from it and how far technology has marched on. They were at war, so they couldnt tell that there were outbreaks, only the neutral Spain could say it without the danger of demotivating the population. Today there are mostly just trade wars anymore, but the rules have stayed the same and looking at the potential immense economical damage, the intuition of those trying to hide outbreaks was
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