Pale Rider

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With a death toll of between 50 and 100 million people and a global reach, the Spanish flu of 1918 1920 was the greatest human disaster, not only of the twentieth century, but possibly in all of recorded history And yet, in our popular conception it exists largely as a footnote to World War I.In Pale Rider, Laura Spinney recounts the story of an overlooked pandemic, tracing it from Alaska to Brazil, from Persia to Spain, and from South Africa to Odessa Telling the story from the point of view of those who lived through it, she shows how the pandemic was shaped by the interaction of a virus and the humans it encountered and how this devastating natural experiment put both the ingenuity and the vulnerability of humans to the test.Drawing on the latest research in history, virology, epidemiology, psychology, and economics, Laura Spinney narrates a catastrophe that changed humanity for decades to come, and continues to make itself felt today In the process she demonstrates that the Spanish flu was as significant if not so as two world wars in shaping the modern world in disrupting, and often permanently altering, global politics, race relations, family structures, and thinking across medicine, religion and the arts. Best Read Pale Rider [ by ] Laura Spinney [ Kindle ePUB or eBook ] – kino-fada.fr This wasn t the jolliest read, but heck, my friendly GR poppets, life is not all ha ha ha, hee hee hee When she was around 11 or 12 I used to play a game with my daughter called WHO WOULD WIN I ll give you an example the first player says something like who would win in a fight between a lion and a polar bear Each player then tries to find the best reason why one or the other would win But of course our imaginary fights swiftly becameoutlandish who would win in a fight between B This wasn t the jolliest read, but heck, my friendly GR poppets, life is not all ha ha ha, hee hee hee When she was around 11 or 12 I used to play a game with my daughter called WHO WOULD WIN I ll give you an example the first player says something like who would win in a fight between a lion and a polar bear Each player then tries to find the best reason why one or the other would win But of course our imaginary fights swiftly becameoutlandish who would win in a fight between Brenda who is Georgia s grandmother, an elderly lady and The Queen In this case it was The Queen would win because although she is very old and frail, Brenda would be too scared to clobber her, because she s The Queen If she wasn...It s a 3.5 star book It s a 4 star book up until about page 250 I would have given it a solid 4 if she had ended it there with some summation of her research But from Melancholy Muses onward it was HER opinion, supposition, context correlations to possible cause and effects to epidemics of flu in the future and or possible wild bird domestic bird domestic pig transfer of evolving viruses theories etc And some of that was just about a 2 star So I thought that the fact and the science It s a 3.5 star book It s a 4 star book up until about page 250 I would have given it a solid 4 if she had ended it there with some summation of her research But from Melancholy Muses onward it was HER opinion, supposition, context correlations to possible cause and effects to epidemics of flu in the future and or possible wild bird domestic bird domestic pig transfer of evolving viruses theories etc And some of that was just about a 2 star So I thought that the fact and the science became scrambled in finality instead of being clearly concluded to so much of we do not know that is much closer to the reality of flu changes Even in her Aftermath.But don t get me wrong Please do not take this strange non linear METHOD of telling this as reason for not reading it That criticism ...Nerd addendum update Jan 2018 After my review below, the NY Times gave this book a favorable review as a science book and even made it an overall weekly Editors Choice People can have different tastes in literature, but for science non fiction, factual accuracy must override the esthetics of the storytelling The mistake I pointed out below is something that a reviewer with some relevant scientific background should have noticed It relates to the differences between exposure, infection, Nerd addendum update Jan 2018 After my review below, the NY Times gave this book a favorable review as a science book and even made it an overall weekly Editors Choice People can have different tastes in literature, but for science non fiction, factual accuracy must override the esthetics of the storytelling The mistake I pointed out below is something that a reviewer with some relevant scientific background should have noticed It relates to the differences between exposure, infection, illness and death Distinguishing these from each oth...Autore britannica 1971 Saggio storia.Sono pochi i libri in Italia sull influenza spagnola.Uno La spagnola in Italia di Eugenia Tognotti, l altro questa traduzione della britannica Spinney Almeno che risultino a me.Tra i lettori qui presenti c un nerd statunitense, molto severo nel giudizio, che cita due testi di due storici che per ha potuto leggere lui, visto che sono del suo paese e non tradotti.Secondo lui non abbastanza scientifico.Un altra lettrice d oltreoceano lo reputa scri Autore britannica 1971 Saggio storia.Sono pochi i libri in Italia sull influenza spagnola.Uno La spagnola in Italia di Eugenia Tognotti, l altro questa traduzione della britannica Spinney Almeno che risultino a me.Tra i lettori qui presenti c un nerd statunitense, molto severo nel giudizio, che cita due testi di due storici che per ha potuto leggere lui, visto che sono del suo paese e non tradotti.Secondo lui non abbastanza scientifico.Un altra lettrice d oltreoceano lo reputa scritto male e non sopporta le indicazione del tipo come vedremo pi avanti.Ho letto dei saggi bellissimi, su argomenti scientifici, che avevano il valore aggiunto di un ottima cap...One of these days, I m actually going to write a story about an epidemic that will justify all the reading I ve done on the subject But in the meantime, I just find it fascinating This is one of the better books about the 1919 epidemic that I ve read Laura Spinney goes into the history of humanity s interactions with influenza before talking about the events of that particular epidemic, and the way it affected the modern world.As an interesting side note, one of the people she mentions shares One of these days, I m actually going to write a story about an epidemic that will justify all the reading I ve done on the subject But in the meantime, I just find it fascinating This is one of the better books about the 1919 epidemic that I ve read Laura Spinney goes into the history of humanity s interactions with influenza before talking about the events of that particular epidemic, and the way it affected the modern world.As an interesting side note, one of the people she m...I really enjoyed this A very interesting and comprehensive study of an often overlooked period of history, the Spanish Flu of 1918 1920, roughly , and how it impacted the world.I ll get the few problems I had with it out of the way first, just to be comprehensive.Problem 1 There was too much focus on male voices for my liking Granted, this is probably as in, almost certainly because that is the majority of evidence available I still felt a little cheated, though you can t open the book I really enjoyed this A very interesting and comprehensive study of an often overlooked period of history, the Spanish Flu of 1918 1920, roughly , and how it impacted the world.I ll get the few problems I had with it out of the way first, just to be comprehensive.Problem 1 There was too much focus on male voices for my liking Granted, this is probably as in, almost certainly because that is the majority of evidence available I still felt a little cheated, though you can t open the book by dangling a female history of the disease over my head and then not deliver That s not fair at all.Problem 2 There was a little too much...Seven million people died in the great warA bout of influenza quadrupled that score.Why pimp to posterity Why should they admire us All the heroes of ValhallaWeigh less than a virus Momus Morality is Vanity was one of the reasons I was keen to read this new account of an insufficiently remembered hecatomb, the not actually Spanish flu of 1918 And no, I have no idea why it s not coming out for next year s centenary, instead mingling with all the books marking a century since the Russian RSeven million people died in the great warA bo...Horrified to learn that Donald Trump s family got their wealthy start from an insurance policy on his German immigrant grandfather who died from the flu, his widow and son investing his life insurance in propertyoh how the world might be different today if Donald Trump s grandfather hadn t died of the Spanish flu.I have a strange fascination with disease history evolving understanding about the causes,...Pale Rider is a book that covers a topic that has emerged from our collective memory of WWI over the last 20 years or so Although the flu pandemic of 1918 killed farpeople than the war it is only recently that it has been talked about, written about and analyzed In the final pages of the book, Spinney explains why we are just now beginning to understand this phenomenon the lack of attention to the pandemic and to its wide consequences for the past, present, and future generations We m Pale Rider is a book that covers a topic that has emerged from our collective memory of WWI over the last 20 years or so Although the flu pandemic of 1918 killed farpeople than the war it is only recently that it has been talked about, written about and analyzed In the final pages of the book, Spinney explains why we are just now beginning to understand this phenomenon the lack of attention to the pandemic and to its wide consequences for the past, present, and future generations We must understand it, be...This book about the Spanish Flu tried to do what other books on the disease haven t done It discusses the effect of the Flu on countries in Eastern Europe and Asia Most books on the disease focus on Canada, The United States, and Western Europe In adding Eastern Europe and Asia to the discussion the author brings the possibility of the disease starting somewhere other than Kansas in the United States, a place where many researchers have believed it to have started The problem with this book This book about the Spanish Flu tried to do what other books on the disease haven t done It discusses the effect of the Flu on countries in Eastern Europe and Asia Most books on the disease focus on Canada, The United States, and Western Europe In adding Eastern Europe and Asia to the discussion the author brings the possibility of the disease starting somewhere other...

Pale Rider
  • 27 September 2017
  • Hardcover
  • 352 pages
  • 1910702374
  • Laura Spinney
  • Pale Rider