The Great Influenza


The Great Influenza: The Story of the Deadliest Plague in History is a 2004 nonfiction book by John M. Barry that examines the 1918 flu pandemic, the worst pandemic in history. Barry focuses on what was occurring in the United States at the time and attempts to place it against the background of American history and within the context of the history of medicine. The book describes how the flu started in Haskell County, Kansas, and spread to Camp Funston and around the world through troop movements during World War I.

Reviews

A 2004 Journal of Clinical Investigation review said that the book was "well conceived, well researched, and extremely well written" targeting a broad audience-physicians, scientists, medical students, and history buffs. Barry Gewen of The New York Times praises it saying "He is a good teacher, in part because he assumes that his readers don't know anything. He explains the technical stuff clearly, with nice, homey analogies"

Reaction

In the summer of 2005, President George W. Bush read the book while on vacation at his ranch in Crawford. His study would later set forth plans for the federal government to prepare for future pandemics in a November 2005 speech.
The book is experiencing a surge in popularity as a result of the 2019-2020 COVID-19 pandemic.