The Great Influenza- The Story of the Deadliest Pandemic in History by John M. Barry

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Web ID: 11773039

#1 New York Times bestsellerBarry will teach you almost everything you need to know about one of the deadliest outbreaks in human history Bill Gates. "Monumental. . . an authoritative and disturbing morality tale. " Chicago Tribune The strongest weapon against pandemic is the truth. Read why in the definitive account of the 1918 Flu Epidemic. Magisterial in its breadth of perspective and depth of research, The Great Influenza provides us with a precise and sobering model as we confront the epidemics looming on our own horizon. As Barry concludes, "The final lesson of 1918, a simple one yet one most difficult to execute, is that. . . those in authority must retain the public's trust. The way to do that is to distort nothing, to put the best face on nothing, to try to manipulate no one. Lincoln said that first, and best. A leader must make whatever horror exists concrete. Only then will people be able to break it apart. " 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 months than AIDS killed in twenty-four years, more in a year than the Black Death killed in a century.

  • Product Features

    • Suggested age range- Adult
    • Format- Paperback
    • Dimensions- 5.4" W x 8.3" H x 1.3" D
    • Genre- Health & wellness
    • Publisher- Penguin Publishing Group, Publication date- 10-04-2005
    • Page count- 576
    • ISBN- 9780143036494

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3 reviews
4 years ago
from Pennsylvania

A Grim And Prophetic History

If you look for John Barry's The Great Influenza: The Story of the Deadliest Pandemic in History, I recommend that you try to find the Penguin paperback edition published in 2018. All the editions will contain Barry's recounting of the 1918 flu epidemic that killed approximately 675,000 persons out of 105 million in the US and 50 to 100 million of 1.8 million worldwide. Barry uses both statistics and stories of scientists, individuals and communities to tell a story that seemed remote but now, in December 2021, is all all too relevant. He also showed how an incompetent federal, state, and local response amplified the disaster. Woodrow Wilson had mobilized the country to fight world War I and was unwilling to even mention the fact tens and hundreds of thousand were dying. Only the natural course of the virus brought the carnage to an end. The reason I suggest looking for the latest edition is that it contains Barry's afterword written to update it and tell what had been done to prevent another pandemic. When he opened that section with the words, “Events have overtaken this book”, he could not have known how horribly true that statement would become. Of course, not all the mistakes of 1918 were repeated, but another passage in the afterword seems chillingly applicable to the Trump administration, Fox News, and the Internet. “For if there is a single dominant lesson from 1918, it's that governments need to tell the truth in a crisis. Risk communication implies managing the truth. You don't manage the truth. You tell the truth.” I live in a county that has the highest Covid death rate in my state, where about 60 percent are not vaccinated, and where 80 percent of voters went for Trump in 2020, so I see the results of misinformation firsthand. Back to the book: because there were sections that were a bit slow and I think there were places that could have been trimmed I'll give The Great Influenza four stars instead of five, but I still think it is a must read.

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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com

5 years ago
from St Augustine Florida

The truth laid out

The novel “The Great Influenza” is well written and left me with a thorough understanding of this time in medical history. I thought perhaps to use this book as reference but this book was a very interesting read from beginning to end.

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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com

5 years ago
from New York, NY

An Incredible Read for Anyone

This is the definitive read for anyone wanting to understand the influenza virus, its spread and its affect on populations. Mr. Barry wrote it for the lay person to understand. It is a page turner of history, intrigue, scientific studies, facts and testimonies. It is logically assembled and an easy read, beginning with a brief history of the development of the medical profession in the United States and its eventual merging with science. This book should now be showcased in every bookstore window and on every website for the power that it holds in understanding where we may now be with the current pandemic.

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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com