The Great Influenza

The Epic Story of the Deadliest Plague in History

By: John M. Barry

Narrated by: Scott Brick

Length: 19 hrs and 26 mins

Publisher's summary

In the winter of 1918, at the height of World War I, 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 24 weeks than AIDS has killed in 24 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 between modern science and epidemic disease.

Magisterial in its breadth of perspective and depth of research, The Great Influenza weaves together multiple narratives, with characters ranging from William Welch, founder of the Johns Hopkins Medical School, to John D. Rockefeller and Woodrow Wilson. Ultimately a tale of triumph amid tragedy, this crisis provides us with a precise and sobering model as we confront the epidemics looming on our own horizon.

©2004, 2005 John M. Barry (P)2006 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

"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)

very in depth!

this took me a long time to finish. it gets dry and very descriptive at several points. however, it does give a vivid picture of the timeframe of the Spanish flu. if you like medically based terminology then go for it. if you want something suspenseful then not so much.

Great Book

Currently dealing with a pandemic, this book really hit home. There is so much information that relates to what we are dealing with. We're just lucky that it's nothing like the Great Influenza of 1920.

Reads like fiction!

This was an amazing book! I believe this among all others needs to be heard, not read. It is addictive. It grips you like fiction. With all that went on in 1918, you would have thought we would have learned. However, we are experiencing a near repeat. A must!

Eerily similar look at the 1918 “Spanish flu”

Given current events, this book reads like a house on fire. The stories of medical fact-finding and mystery are well-told. The descriptions of entire towns full of corpses are as scary as any Stephen King novel. And the knowledge that we knew this was coming and did nothing is terrible.

worth reading

Great book especially with the current Covid-19 situation
shows how bad the 1918 pandemic was
the last chapter is very interesting to hear especially when you bear in mind what s happening now

Ignorance of History Dooms Humanity to Repeat It!

Excellent background overview. Helpful timeline of important events leading to insights relevant to current pandemic. Go directly to updated Afterward then start over because ending stops at 2004 so contemporary research and vaccines are not represented.

Written before 202 pandemic and hit the nail on the head for 2020 pandemic

Must read, vary scary, shows the true ignorance of the human species, never learns from history.

A must read!

We are in the middle of a pandemic and we seemed to have not learn enough. Particularly politicians and civilians, it's a shame.
I invite people to read this book and be more conscience to do not repeat past errors.

incredible book

well written, interesting, and wife ranging. it's very well written and narrated. I highly recommend this book.

Should be required reading...

Every political leader needs to read/listen to this. If they had and learned from it - maybe the current pandemic could have been handled much better.