Pandemic 1918: Eyewitness Accounts from the Greatest Medical Holocaust in Modern History

I really think they just have high school students read this book and do a report on it because it is that good of a book. I learned so much about the Spanish Flu Pandemic and how it started and ended. I think I read it in three days because I just couldn't put it down. The most chilling part of course is how similar the Spanish Flu Pandemic is to the COVID Pandemic. The only difference is we have the medicine and technology to help those fighting it whereas during the Spanish Flu they had nothing. It was just a very educational book that my son actually picked out as a gift for me for Christmas and was one of the best presents I have received in a long time. I like learning about history and I think this book can teach you a lot about a Pandemic and the brave souls who had to deal with it.

This was one of the best books I've read about the subject of the 1918 Spanish Flu; very detailed and well researched.

Catherine Arnold must have taken a long, long time to complete her book. A very large part of it is devoted to how the Spanish flu affected just regular people. She tells of how people suffered through the illness. How quickly it affected some, alive one day and gone the next. There are stories of whole families affected. Problems getting grave diggers and coffins. In short supply, coffins were sometimes stolen. And it seems the flu was more virulent than today's variety.About a half way through the book though it gets a little tedious, though still the dear reader wonders how did Arnold find all this information? Still an excellent rendering and worth purchasing. A possible shortcoming is corrected in the book Pale Rider, published about the same time. Pale Rider give a better picture of the world wide impact of the flu, its spread, and long lasting effect while still giving some anecdotal information.Typical paperback. Seems paper is getting poorer quality all the time but with a better than average cover. Not a book to keep as the paper will deteriorate. Still, a well researched book. That by itself should get it four stars.

My friend, who reads a lot of historical books, enjoyed this one.

Published in 2018, this book gives us a picture of how the poorly-understood Spanish flu was raging worldwide, and how little could be done to avoid getting it. The stories of numerous individuals who were stricken give it a human face that scientific books on the subject don’t provide.Typical of how the disease came on quickly, and could kill within hours, in my family, the most poignant story of this time was an 18-year-old military wife taking her 5-month-old infant to meet her parents. On a train from Jacksonville, Florida, to Toccoa, Georgia, the mother was stricken with flu, and when the train arrived in her parents’ hometown, she was dead.Had the author known what was on the horizon for 2020, Arnold's introduction wouldn’t have included these words: “Today, despite regular health scares about bird, flu, SARS, HIV and Ebola, it is difficult to envisage a scenario in which something as common as influenza could cause widespread illness and death….”

This was interesting but very jumbled and disjointed. There seemed to be factual errors as well.

This is a very good account of the Spanish Flu.Takes the reader on every aspect of it, every thought of the people back in 1918, funny how they were believing all the conspiracies , less in the pandemic itself.Also, it doesn't concentrate only what happened in US, i was curious about other countries too and i got that.The book talks about, towards the end, the markets in China , about how they discovered what exactly the virus was and other important aspects.Glad, i've purchased and read this one.

I've long wondered about the Spanish Flu. My Mom (born 1919) was named after Long Island woman, a close friend of my Grandmother who died from the Spanish Flu. A beautiful woman, young and healthy.The origin of the Spanish Flu is not precisely defined but the United States and WWI efforts played a large role in the spread. It was very surprising to learn that as many as 40,000 American WWI casualties were from the Flu - not battlefield deaths. Also surprising was animal to human interfaces and ongoing research with frozen bodies.In life events occur at intervals that reduce populations for humans and animals alike. Learning from past epidemics will better prepare Americans for future challenges.Well written and easy reading - technical but not so much so that the book is difficult to read.

It really echoes what we are experiencing today. Front line people doing exceptional things and politicians and people in control often hiding and obscuring the facts. And the people who rise up for the challenge of helping others at great risk to themselves.

will they ever learn?

Love the book. Purchased it because I read it in e format but just wanted an actual copy for reference.Very informative and relatable. Well written.Unfortunately, the book binding has a fault at the back cover.The only option is to return, and I want a replacement.

Timely read. Well written.

No analysis. Repetitive breathless descriptions. Disconnected. Had to put it down.