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)

Incredible book!

So much information that could have been used to help or even stop the Covid 19 pandemic. It should be required reading for all the so called leaders of today.

Absolutely Fascinating.

The book does a excellent job of recounting the historical, political, and scientific factors that surrounding the 1918 pandemic. There are so many unfortunate parallels to our current times that you can’t help but realize how little society has learned (or how much it learned and promptly forgot) after the Spanish Flu. It is both compelling and accessible - encouraging and devastating.

Great scientific read

Great information with a lot of information about the pandemic. Too much dramatic redundancy for my taste but that’s up to the author.

The Great Infulenza

Excellent, absolutely excellent. It is both informative and frightening. Great information on the development of medical science in America, the biology of a disease, the stupidity & ignorance of politicians and what can happen if we are not careful; all rolled into a novel that is easily understood. Recommended for all and guaranteed to scare you.

Listened to it 4 times

I purchased this book about 1 1/2 years ago. I listened to twice early on, but I decided to listen to it again given this Coronavirus pandemic that we are living through.

There are so many similarities today to the 1918 Influenza. So much learned and disregarded or forgotten. The book explains the science involved to identify the influenza and some it applies to the Coronavirus. The rapid spread is also similar. This book is a great listen. The story is very engaging and the narrator is good.

Highly recommended.

Extraordinary torture

A brilliant piece of storytelling that spans an age so close to our times, but one that's nearly irretrievable in terms of our ordinary experience.

However - and this is a big however - Scott Brick's narration is SO syrupy, sing-songy, and melodramatic that I found it very difficult to listen to. Brick appears to be the favorite narrator of the audiobook world, but his delivery is so cloying that it actually undermines the drama native to the account of the 1918 epidemic. History doesn't need to be acted as though it were a radio melodrama.

Great public health

The facinating thing about this book is that we didn't learn about this in school and that our parents and grandparents didn't talk about it. John Barry weaves a story about the social, medical, political and human side of this great epidemic. I thoroughly enjoyed the book and learned a great deal - much of it still relevant to our present situation and our approaches to infectious disease.

A Terrifying Distant Mirror

Every literate American should read this book! This is a real-life Steven King novel. The great Influenza pandemic of 1918 mirrors our current year of 2020. As then, our country is battling multiple enemies. As then, our national leaders pursue other priorities, ignoring scientists and pretending the disease is just a minor irritant. What is most unsettling is that today, as in 1918, many of our national and state leaders are incompetents and fools who peddle quack “cures” and babble happy talk about how the virus will wither in the summer sun, or has “peaked” even while new cases and death tolls increase. Dozens of brave medical researchers desperately seek a treatment and a cure, but in 1918 medicine repeatedly comes up empty and reverts to bleeding flu victims. John M. Barry accurately forecasts there will be another pandemic. His story of the 1918-19 outbreak is gripping, insightful, terrifying, and extraordinarily well-researched. Read this book, then buckle up to ride out the horror of 1918 over again!

a great history of our medical exploration

and how we grew in our contry's medical knowledge. The flu epidemic was so consuming and so horrible that I find the loss of life described almost unreal. I cannot believe how much this country, and especially our armed forces suffered and died. And then to hear how horrible this flu murdered world wide. I just cannot believe how much and how many people died and much we depend on our medical experts.

Great book! Four stars from a tough critic...

While I admit I had more than a passing interest in the Great Flu, this story meandered just a little more than I expected and had a repetitive quality that didn't totally work for me...but I really like Scott Brick (the narrator).