Flu: The Story of the Great Influenza Pandemic of 1918 and the Search for the Virus That Caused It
by Gina Kolata
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other reviews (showing 1-20 of 282)
Read in February, 2008
Inspired by the novel, "The Last Town on Earth," I decided to learn more about the 1918 flu epidemic which killed as many as 100 million people around the world. This book, while interesting, is not really about the 1918 pandemic. It's about the efforts to find out what actually caused the flu, so it follows researchers for 80 years. As of the conclusion of this book in 1998, scientists were still not quite sure what caused that incredibly deadly strain. The most interesting section is...more
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Read in December, 2005
recommends it for:
science-enthusiasts
Kolata writes for the Times, so her name might look familiar to you. You should know, this book is pretty technical in terms of explaining the science related to influenza. This book is an interesting complement to a social history of the flu for those interested in learning about the 1918 pandemic. Let it be known that this book reported that the 1918 flu was most likely an avian flu about 10 years before this knowledge was reported to the general public. At the time of this book, comput...more
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Read in March, 2008
A fascinating story about the quest to find and decode the 1918 influenza virus. It's a bit outdated now, thanks to advances in science, but still a good and informative read. I only had two complaints: I wished for footnotes, rather than the endnotes that weren't easy to reference without superscript numbers, and I wished Kolata's telling was more of a timeline rather than individual's stories. The first is rather minor, but the second would have made it easier to keep track of the narrative an...more
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A page-turning secret history of the flu pandemic of 1919, leads into some later chapters about flu today. For me, the meat of the book is in those early chapters. Very readable and sort of shocking and facinating. I had never even heard of the flu pandemic in school. Such a wierd and common educational lacunae. When I teach a class on the elegy, and we read the poems about loss around the time of WWI, bringing this book into the conversation changes things pretty dramatically.
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Read in July, 2007
recommends it for:
adults/wannabe scientists
This look at the 1918 flu pandemic and flu research that has occurred since then is an interesting mix of science and politics. The number of people who died is staggering, yet this event is scarcely mentioned in history books.
The book presents an interesting take on how government policy is made. The book is too long, and repeats itself in places, however, it provides a good background for thinking about what threats to our security get attention, and why.
The book presents an interesting take on how government policy is made. The book is too long, and repeats itself in places, however, it provides a good background for thinking about what threats to our security get attention, and why.
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Has a copy to sell/swap
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Read in March, 2007
recommends it for:
non-scientists, people who forget things easily
she is so damn repetitive and rambling i can't stand it! she also tries to hard to mention names of specific scientific methods, then doesn't explain them, which is aggravating (i would assume) for those who don't know what they are.
the story has so many dead endings, im sure she could have found some better stuff to write on, or else write a book about something else.
anyway, i didn't like it. but somehow i did finish it, so thats why it got two stars.
the story has so many dead endings, im sure she could have found some better stuff to write on, or else write a book about something else.
anyway, i didn't like it. but somehow i did finish it, so thats why it got two stars.
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2 comments
recommends it for:
Those in science, pharma or health care
I used to work for a company that tracked influenza, and the 1918 pandemic was a regular topic of lunchtime conversation. Read this as soon as it came out, and loved it, but could see where the uninvested reader might lose heart. Reviews both the epidemiology and some of the public-health reasons it was able to spread so fast.
It's going to happen again, so it's good information to have under your belt.
It's going to happen again, so it's good information to have under your belt.
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Read in May, 2008
The author does a wonderful job of translating scientific jargon into layman's terms. A fascinating look at the 1918 epidemic that wiped out around 40 million people in less than a year and afflicted more than one of every four Americans. This tragedy, just on the heels of World War I and far more deadly, so traumatized the survivors that few would talk about it afterward.
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Turns out my great grandmother traveled from Oklahoma to Kentucky to nurse one of my great uncles who was in an army base there during this epidemic.
My grandfather, 12th of 13 and the 13th died, was conscripted into WWI and at 18 years of age was 'on the gangplank' when Armistice was declared. Seems long ago, but no Papa Joyce, no me.
My grandfather, 12th of 13 and the 13th died, was conscripted into WWI and at 18 years of age was 'on the gangplank' when Armistice was declared. Seems long ago, but no Papa Joyce, no me.
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Read in February, 2008
Oh my goodness- a must read for anyone in the bio field. Kolata writes in such a narative style that it makes this non-fiction book read like fiction. I was shocked to read about the influenza of 1918- how did we not learn about this in school? Her book addresses a time in our history that really shouldn't be forgotten.
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Very interesting book! I thought it would be more about the actual events in 1918. Instead, it focused more on the search for the virus over the last 80 years. Even though the book discussed a lot of the medical/scientific aspects of the virus, it was still very readable and easy to understand.
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Kolata weaves history, global politics and forensic epidemiology together into a gripping and informative narrative. Unlike many single-topic books, it does not secretly wish it were a New Yorker article. There is enough information and drama easily to sustain a reader for several hundred pages.
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Read in March, 2008
Interesting update on the 1918 influenza pandemic that kills 100 million plus worldwide. Story is sad yet the science is fascinating in how viruses work, mutuate and why so hard to track them down. For those following the bird flu controversy last year, this is the book to read.
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Nonfiction book about the Influenza Epidemic of 1918. I never even knew the nation (and world) suffered through this epidemic until college. I guess it makes sense when you consider the fact that all my high school history teachers were football coaches.
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Such a badly written book about a horrible and fascinating pandemic. For a much better treatment of pandemics, especially emerging diseases, try The Coming Plague.
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Read in January, 2008
The book starts out very well and then for those who are not to concerned about the technical aspects of virology it becomes a bit imposing toward the later chapters as the author skillfully shows how technology advanced along with the years.
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Read in January, 2005
recommends it for:
Moderns
Excellent work. Simply a wonderful story to read on many levels. You will learn and enjoy following the events. Very sad, intriguing and timeless -- well worth knowing about the past in terms of disease to help the present and future.
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Read in January, 2003
Ever since learning the "park" on the corner of Princess Anne Road in Ghent is really a flu mass burial site, I've been intrigued by the story of the pandemic. This was too much information in some ways and yet not enough in others.
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Read in March, 2008
Definitely a fun read, and i learned a lot about the 1918 flu pandemic, but i was waiting for more. maybe i just wanted it to be up-to-the-minute with recent news on the effort to revive the virus. and then i watched "i am legend"
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Read in October, 2005
Gina Kolata is an awesome writer. The author is the science journalist for the New York Times, but doesn't write like you might think a scientist would. I guess I'm trying to say it's a very heavy subject but also very readable.
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