Order from a Major Online Bookstore
Ultimate Book Price Comparison Engine
Save Your Time And Money
| AnyBook4Less.com | Order from a Major Online Bookstore |
|
| Home | Store List | FAQ | Contact Us | | ||
| Ultimate Book Price Comparison Engine Save Your Time And Money |
||
 |
Title: The Great Influenza: The Epic Story of the Deadliest Plague In History by John M. Barry ISBN: 0-670-89473-7 Publisher: Viking Press Pub. Date: 05 February, 2004 Format: Hardcover Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $29.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.35 (23 reviews)
Rating: 2
Summary: Great drama: deserves a better writer.
Comment: I was very much looking forward to this book, and now about 100 pages into it, I'm not sure I'll even finish it. The influenza outbreak of 1918 is inherently a fascinating story, but it is unfortunate that this great and important drama was taken up by such a mediocre writer.
Simply put, the author lacks the necessary skill to complement this story - and the publishing house failed to pair him with a competent editor. The extensive opening dissertation on the development of modern medicine, for instance, could have been related in a cohesive and understandable fashion; instead Barry hops around tracing so many confusing threads that the reader is left baffled as to the real trajectory. Much more annoying is his breathless style of writing and his habit of inserting his own melodramatic asides at every turn that it resembles a sophomore trying to impress you of the import of each development. I was tempted to shout "I get it! I don't need you to add swelling music to underscore every point."
Upshot: the great influenza plague of 1918 makes a great story. I wish a more skilled writer had been the one to tell it.
Rating: 4
Summary: A glimpse into the past reveals elements of the future
Comment: My father survived the great influenza. He was three when he caught it and nearly lost his life. Instead, he lost the hearing in his left ear. It was just another moment in his past for him. He didn't attach any significance to it except for noting that his mother and father were scared to death that he wouldn't survive. He did. There were others who were less fortunate.
John Barry's well researched book acts as more than a glimpse into the past; it's a cautionary tale about the present as well. Barry notes that the great influenza was the first pandemic in modern history that seemed unstoppable; it killed more people in 24 hours than the black plaque killed during a century. It left lingering effects in the more of a parkinson's life disorder where brain cells of the substania nigra were destroyed due to the effects of the virus and fever. World War 1 wasn't won by armies but by the effect of the flu. The virus spread like wildfire throughout barracks and through regiments. It was the merchant of death and humanity was at its mercy.
The heroes in this war against nature were scientists. Oswald T. Avery, Anna Wessel Williams, William Park all were among the heroes who marched against this nasty virus. The results of their(and their compatriots)hard work is a world where humanity has a fighting chance against these nasty diseases.
The most telling story is quoted from the book THE PLAGUE OF THE SPANISH LADY. In it, the author recounts the tale of Charles Lewis in South Africa. He boarded a streetcar to take him home. In the course of the three mile journey the conductor died. Then the driver and 5 others died. All within a three mile stretch. That's how lethal this virus proved to be.
Barry also recounts the discovery of ARDS (Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome) which leaves the lungs looking like forest after a massive fire. The airways are as bare and desolate looking as the moon.
Barry's book is both frightening and hopeful. We face the same challenge now as pathogens continue their massive assault around his. The problem has always existed we've only just begun to understand the threat. We take for granted that we live in a fragile, uncertain world. We've got the wits to recognize our enemy. When these threats occur we just need the time to respond.
Rating: 5
Summary: Outstanding history of pandemic and medical history
Comment: Compliments the Kolata book; increases wonder that we didn't learn anything about this in school in the fifties and sixties. Occasionally repetitive, but otherwise perfect history of the development of the medical profession, the great figures it produced (and that produced the medical schools), and what they confronted in 1918. Hard to believe that the governments -- federal, state and local -- were as obtuse and immovable as they were, that Woodrow Wilson was as careless and uncaring as he's portrayed, but completely consistent with Barry's thesis. Bravo!
 |
Title: Triangle: The Fire That Changed America by David Von Drehle ISBN: 0871138743 Publisher: Atlantic Monthly Press Pub. Date: August, 2003 List Price(USD): $25.00 |
 |
Title: Rats : Observations on the History and Habitat of the City's Most Unwanted Inhabitants by Robert Sullivan ISBN: 1582343853 Publisher: Bloomsbury USA Pub. Date: 03 April, 2004 List Price(USD): $23.95 |
 |
Title: America's Forgotten Pandemic : The Influenza of 1918 by Alfred W. Crosby ISBN: 0521541751 Publisher: Cambridge University Press Pub. Date: 21 July, 2003 List Price(USD): $22.00 |
 |
Title: RISING TIDE: THE GREAT MISSISSIPPI FLOOD OF 1927 AND HOW IT CHANGED AMERICA by John M. Barry ISBN: 0684840022 Publisher: Touchstone Books Pub. Date: 02 April, 1998 List Price(USD): $16.00 |
 |
Title: Washington's Crossing (Pivotal Moments in American History) by David Hackett Fischer ISBN: 0195170342 Publisher: Oxford University Press Pub. Date: February, 2004 List Price(USD): $35.00 |
Thank you for visiting www.AnyBook4Less.com and enjoy your savings!
Copyright� 2001-2021 Send your comments
