Chapter Overview

Chapter 1: AudiobookHub Recommendation
Chapter 2: By World War I’s onset, American medical science had advanced greatly and was rapidly nearing the world-class professional standing.
Chapter 3: Influenza is an extremely efficient virus, endlessly mutating to escape our immune defenses.
Chapter 4: America’s drive to wage World War I set near-perfect conditions for a dangerous virus to spread rapidly.
Chapter 5: When the virus first struck, it resembled ordinary flu, but the second wave revealed it was far more deadly than anyone first imagined.
Chapter 6: In autumn 1918, the virus struck with horrific ferocity, worsened by the botched response from city authorities and Army officials alike.
Chapter 7: The 1918 flu was swift, gruesome, and more prone to strike the young and healthy hardest.
Chapter 8: America’s top scientists sought to determine the virus’s cause, yet their investigations ultimately produced only further questions instead.
Chapter 9: The U.S. government’s inaction ultimately helped cause catastrophic loss of life across the globe.
Chapter 10: The pandemic gradually waned, yet the full extent of its consequences remains difficult to grasp.
Chapter 11: Long after the pandemic, scientists stayed fixated on discovering a cure. For most, that pursuit ended in disappointment.

Description

The Great Influenza (2004) is the authoritative history of the 1918 influenza pandemic, estimated to have killed 5 percent of the world’s total human population. Author John M. Barry examines the scientific, social, and political context of the pandemic, questioning the extent to which human error and willful ignorance worsened the terrible consequences of the disease. Coming right on the heels of World War I, the pandemic changed the course of history in ways too numerous, and impactful, to fully reckon with – until now.

About the Authors

John M. Barry is a New York Times bestselling author whose books have won dozens of awards. In his writing, he examines the history of public policy and science, and how the two have frequently come together to wreak havoc. Though not a scientist, he has advised both the Bush and Obama administrations on flu preparedness and has delivered a keynote address at the National Academies of Sciences on pandemic influenza.

The Great Influenza

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Chapter Overview

Chapter 1: AudiobookHub Recommendation

Chapter 2: By World War I’s onset, American medical science had advanced greatly and was rapidly nearing the world-class professional standing.

Chapter 3: Influenza is an extremely efficient virus, endlessly mutating to escape our immune defenses.

Chapter 4: America’s drive to wage World War I set near-perfect conditions for a dangerous virus to spread rapidly.

Chapter 5: When the virus first struck, it resembled ordinary flu, but the second wave revealed it was far more deadly than anyone first imagined.

Chapter 6: In autumn 1918, the virus struck with horrific ferocity, worsened by the botched response from city authorities and Army officials alike.

Chapter 7: The 1918 flu was swift, gruesome, and more prone to strike the young and healthy hardest.

Chapter 8: America’s top scientists sought to determine the virus’s cause, yet their investigations ultimately produced only further questions instead.

Chapter 9: The U.S. government’s inaction ultimately helped cause catastrophic loss of life across the globe.

Chapter 10: The pandemic gradually waned, yet the full extent of its consequences remains difficult to grasp.

Chapter 11: Long after the pandemic, scientists stayed fixated on discovering a cure. For most, that pursuit ended in disappointment.

Description

Who Should Listen

About the Authors