
The Great Influenza
The Story of the Deadliest Pandemic in History
John M. Barry(Author)
Penguin Books Ltd (Publisher)
Published on 4. October 2005
Book
Paperback/Softback
576 pages
978-0-14-303649-4 (ISBN)
Description
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 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 suggests ways in which we might head off another flu pandemic.
Reviews / Votes
Over a year on The New York Times bestseller list"Monumental... powerfully intelligent... not just a masterful narrative... but also an authoritative and disturbing morality tale." -Chicago Tribune
"Easily our fullest, richest, most panoramic history of the subject." -The New York Times Book Review
"Hypnotizing, horrifying, energetic, lucid prose..." -Providence Observer
"A sobering account of the 1918 flu epidemic, compelling and timely. -The Boston Globe
"History brilliantly written... The Great Influenza is a masterpiece." -Baton Rouge Advocate
More details
Edition
Revised edition
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Target group
College/higher education
Professional and scholarly
Edition type
Revised edition
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Dimensions
Height: 216 mm
Width: 141 mm
Thickness: 31 mm
Weight
542 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-14-303649-4 (9780143036494)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

E-Book
10/2005
Penguin Books
€16.99
Available for download
Previous edition

Person
John M Barry is the author of four previous books, including the highly acclaimed and award-winning Rising Tide: The Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 and How It Changed America.
Content
Prologue
Part I: The Warriors
Part II: The Swarm
Part III: The Tinderbox
Part IV: It Begins
Part V: Explosion
Part VI: The Pestilence
Part VII: The Race
Part VIII: The Tolling Of The Bell
Part IX: Lingerer
Part X: Endgame
Afterword
Acknowledgments
Notes
Bibliography
Index
Part I: The Warriors
Part II: The Swarm
Part III: The Tinderbox
Part IV: It Begins
Part V: Explosion
Part VI: The Pestilence
Part VII: The Race
Part VIII: The Tolling Of The Bell
Part IX: Lingerer
Part X: Endgame
Afterword
Acknowledgments
Notes
Bibliography
Index