The Great Influenza

The Story of the Deadliest Pandemic in History

| 4.19 | 23,160 ratings and reviews

Recommended by Greg Dworkin, Kyle Bass, Dave Collum, and 7 others. See all reviews

Ranked #1 in Pandemic, Ranked #2 in Pathology — see more rankings.

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... more
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Reviews and Recommendations

We've comprehensively compiled reviews of The Great Influenza from the world's leading experts.

Dave Collum I guess it is a good time to point out that "The Great Influenza" is a great book. If you think modern medicine would have mitigate this one, you haven't read the book. https://t.co/t4uHPgfLE6 (Source)

Greg Dworkin @heshsson yes1 brilliant book, which also explains flu better than most other things you will read (Source)

Kyle Bass @Holykisses Remember the Great Influenza of 1918 (amazing book by Barry)...40-50 million died at a 10% kill rate. The higher the rate, the faster it is likely to burn itself out. 10% is a global pandemic nightmare. (Source)

Mark Hertling Read this book by @johnmbarry a few years ago...found it fascinating. Decided to re-read...just for insights into disease and their effects on society. https://t.co/O5BOJGaEIz (Source)

Norman Ornstein @ianbassin John Barry’s book The Great Influenza is a superb must read. More now than ever! (Source)

Jeff Dean (@) Thanks for the pointer, @joetimmons79! Also, looks like John Barry, the speaker in the video, is an author, & has an interesting looking book about the 1918 flu (if flu pandemic books while social distancing is your cup of tea: I've added to my queue): https://t.co/TZY7xTuhRu (Source)

Antonio Eram This book was recommended by , Founder of NETOPIA mobilPay, when asked for titles he would recommend to people interested in understanding the world around them. (Source)

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