The Great Influenza

THE #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER 'Everything you need to know about one of the deadliest outbreaks in human history' Bill Gates 'Easily our fullest, richest, most panoramic history of the subject' New York Times Book Review In 1918, the world faced the deadliest pandemic in human history. What can the story of the so-called Spanish Flu teach us about the fight against present day crises, and how to prepare for future outbreaks? 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, The Great Influenza is ultimately a tale of triumph amid tragedy, which provides us with a precise and sobering model as we confront the aftermath of Covid-19 and future pandemics looming on the horizon.

THE #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER 'Everything you need to know about one of the deadliest outbreaks in human history' Bill Gates 'Easily our fullest, richest, most panoramic history of the subject' New York Times Book Review In 1918, the world faced the deadliest pandemic in human history. What can the story of the so-called Spanish Flu teach us about the fight against present day crises, and how to prepare for future outbreaks? 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, The Great Influenza is ultimately a tale of triumph amid tragedy, which provides us with a precise and sobering model as we confront the aftermath of Covid-19 and future pandemics looming on the horizon.

"The Great Influenza" af John M. Barry er en fascinerende og skræmmende beretning om moderne tids mest dødelige influenza: Den spanske syge. Ved slutningen af første verdenskrig bryder en af historiens mest dødelige influenza ud. Den begyndte formentlig på en militærbase i Kansas, og kom med de amerikanske tropper til Europa. Det anslås at mellem 50 og 100 millioner mennesker mistede livet til influenzapandemien, og den slog flere mennesker ihjel på 24 måneder end AIDS gjorde på 24 år og flere på ét år end pest slog ihjel i et helt århundrede under middelalderen. I "The Great Influenza" går John M. Barry i dybden med spanske syge ud fra flere interessante faglige perspektiver, og giver i sit nye forord forslag til, hvordan vi i fremtiden kan forhindre endnu en frygtelig influenzapandemi.

"The Great Influenza" af John M. Barry er en fascinerende og skræmmende beretning om moderne tids mest dødelige influenza: Den spanske syge. Ved slutningen af første verdenskrig bryder en af historiens mest dødelige influenza ud. Den begyndte formentlig på en militærbase i Kansas, og kom med de amerikanske tropper til Europa. Det anslås at mellem 50 og 100 millioner mennesker mistede livet til influenzapandemien, og den slog flere mennesker ihjel på 24 måneder end AIDS gjorde på 24 år og flere på ét år end pest slog ihjel i et helt århundrede under middelalderen. I "The Great Influenza" går John M. Barry i dybden med spanske syge ud fra flere interessante faglige perspektiver, og giver i sit nye forord forslag til, hvordan vi i fremtiden kan forhindre endnu en frygtelig influenzapandemi.