The Great Influenza

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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 people in twenty four months than AIDS killed in twenty four years, 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. Free Read Books The Great Influenza By John M. Barry – kino-fada.fr I am really surprised at the number of positive reviews this book got, both professional and consumer I am currently a littlethan halfway through and feel the need to write something in case I don t finish it and lose the desire.Before critiquing Barry and his writing style, or lack thereof, his editor, Wendy Wolf deserves special mention This is the first book I have ever read in which I have made special note of the editor and will refuse to read anything she works on in the future I I am really surprised at the number of positive reviews this book got, both professional and consumer I am currently a littlethan halfway through and feel the need to write something in case I don t finish it and lose the desire.Before critiquing Barry and his writing style, or lack thereof, his editor, Wendy Wolf deserves special mention This is the first book I have ever read in which I have made special note of the editor and will refuse to read anything she works on in the future I was sorely tempted to tally the number of repetitions of key phrases, pieces of information and entire narrative sequences Perhaps editing this book was too daunting a task to do it well and still preserve the intent and message, but if so, I would have quit Wendy gets 1 star.Before she edited it though, he wrote it As I understand it, the 1918 Influenza outbreak, with its undercurrents of concurrent revolutions in medical science, oppressive and at times seemingly unconstitutional governmental policy, sh...This book is what happens when I combine the iPad,s one click shopping, and my functional alcoholism I had just sat down in my favorite chair for my weekly wine drunk No sooner had I dropped some ice cubes into a pint glass full of Yellow Tail wine because I m that classy , than Steven Soderbergh s Contagion began playing on HBO I never intended to watch the movie Based on the trailers, I had decided that it was too much like the movie Outbreak, except with fewer monkeys and 100...This 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 t This book had promise, and is good in spots but the overall product suffers grea...This book took me a long time to read, for several reasons First, it really is two books in one The first book is a history of the men and women and institutions involved in the change to scientific medicine in this country around the turn of the century The second is the story of the influenza plague of 1918 1922 itself, the horrors of it, the death rate, the physical symptoms, the psychological effects, and the rather interesting fact that it seems to have been largely forgotten as the hist This book took me a long time to read, for several reasons First, it really is two books in one The first book is a history of the men and women and institutions involved in the change to scientific medicine in this country around the turn of the century The second is the story of the influenza plague of 1918 1922 itself, the horrors of it, the death rate, the physical symptoms,...I thought this would be a history of the misnamed Spanish flu of 1918 it originated in the US, but since Spain was one of the few countries not at war and not censoring information, it took that country s name This book included information about the epidemic, but also extensive details about the founding of Johns Hopkins and the Rockefeller Institute and the men and at least one woman involved in those organizations I had been hoping for the story of the epidemic all over the world, but t I thought this would be a history of the misnamed Spanish flu of 1918 it originated in the US, but since Spain was one of the few countries not at war and not censoring i...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 Gibson s 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...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 t 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 to fight disease You ll get a view of the Wilson administration and the issues of post war politics You ll discover the primitive state of American medicine at the turn of the 20th century You ll learn why the Germans and the French were far ahead in medical research in the beginning of the book and how one American was instrumental in pulling togethe...Getting a little boring, so I m taking a break from it I think I expected a social history how everyday people dealt with the flu, how it affected communities, etc , and instead it s a very detailed history of medicine at the time and well, well before the time of the flu I think I made it through a good 1 4 to 1 3 of the b...I hesitate to go 3 starts on this book, but for what it is it s a good book The thing is and I ve seen other reviewers here say the same thing it s not what I would call primarily about the 1918 1919 Influenza pandemic That s what I was primarily interested in.My grandparents and great grandparents lived through this time My grand aunt lived into her 90s and close to 100 She was one of those people and most of us have known them who seemed to have a cast iron constitution She was I hesitate to go 3 starts on this book, but for what it is it s a good book The thing is and I ve seen other reviewers here say the same thing it s not what I would call primarily about the 1918 1919 Influenza pandemic That s what I was primarily interested in.My grandparents and great grandparents lived through this time My grand aunt lived into her 90s and close to 100 She was one of those people and most of us have known them who seemed to have a cast iron constitutio...I read many of the reviews of The Great Influenza The Epic Story of the Deadliest Plague in History Many reviews are on target, the book just doesn t meet expectations for what should be a powerful tale Unless you already have the book, I wouldn t rush to get it How can I characterize it Pompous, pretentious, repetitive, bloated, It seems he is trying to write like Simon Winchester, bringing in various threads to make a colorful tapestry Except it is threadbare, strained, frayed Just I read many of the reviews of The Great Influenza The Epic Story of the Deadliest Plague in History Many reviews are on target, the book just doesn t meet expectations for what should be a powerful tale Unless you already have the book, I wouldn t rush to get it How can I characterize it Pompous, pretentious, repetitive, bloated, It seems he is trying to write like Simon Winchester, bringing in various threads to make a colorful tapestry Except it is threadbare, strained, frayed Just didn t work for me A real shame because the story deserves a powerful telling.There was one part th...

The Great Influenza
  • English
  • 18 January 2018
  • Paperback
  • 560 pages
  • 0143036491
  • John M. Barry
  • The Great Influenza