From National Book Award finalist Albert Marrin comes a fascinating
look at the history and science of the deadly 1918 flu pandemic--and its
chilling and timely resemblance to the worldwide coronavirus outbreak.
In spring of 1918, World War I was underway, and troops at Fort Riley,
Kansas, found themselves felled by influenza. By the summer of 1918, the
second wave struck as a highly contagious and lethal epidemic and within
weeks exploded into a pandemic, an illness that travels rapidly from one
continent to another. It would impact the course of the war, and kill
many millions more soldiers than warfare itself.
Of all diseases, the 1918 flu was by far the worst that has ever
afflicted humankind; not even the Black Death of the Middle Ages comes
close in terms of the number of lives it took. No war, no natural
disaster, no famine has claimed so many. In the space of eighteen months
in 1918-1919, about 500 million people--one-third of the global
population at the time--came down with influenza. The exact total of
lives lost will never be known, but the best estimate is between 50 and
100 million.
In this powerful book, filled with black and white photographs,
nonfiction master Albert Marrin examines the history, science, and
impact of this great scourge--and the possibility for another worldwide
pandemic today.
A Chicago Public Library Best Book of the Year!