America's Forgotten Pandemic: The Influenza of 1918

Sit down, and allow me to scare you for a moment. Imagine that the world is gripped in the throes of the lengthy stalemate of a senseless war that has depleted Europe of most of its young men and resources, and those that remain are destitute, dispirited, starving, and suffering from the lost of loved ones. In the midst of this war, a formerly rather innocuous disease suddenly mutates into a new killer strain which infects all corners of the globe, from Alaska to Africa, within a matter of weeks. This new disease is not only remarkably contagious, but it is so lethal and destroys so many lives in such a short time-frame that even the ghastly global war pales in comparison. Even the greatest medical minds of the time have little idea (or worse, wrong ideas) as to how to prevent or treat the disease and what may be causing it. The disease makes little discrimination with regard to class, race, nationality, or gender, killing all with an unforgiving ferocity. Perhaps the strangest characteristic of this new, invisible killer, is that it seems to especially target people in the prime of their lives, wiping them out at a rate far disproportionate to that seen in the "traditional" victims of disease, people with inexperienced or compromised immune systems, such as the very young and the very old.

The scariest aspect of this tale is that it is not fiction. It has already happened, and scientists not only foresee the repeat of such an apocalyptic scourge as possible, but they express surprise that it hasn't already repeated its destruction... yet. This nightmarish ordeal I allude to is the worldwide "Spanish" (which, curiously, probably first appeared in the US) Influenza Pandemic of 1918-1919 at the conclusion of WWI, and is covered in a most comprehensive fashion in Alfred Crosby's "America's Forgotten Pandemic: The Influenza of 1918".

Crosby goes into considerable detail (perhaps too much at times) about the origins, course, and record of devastation left by the pandemic ("pandemic" referring to global epidemic). He discusses the effects of the flu upon America's effort to send troops to the Western Front (bases where troops were trained and ships which carried troops across the Atlantic turned out to be "hothouses" for foment and spread of the disease) and the effects upon troops and their actions once at the front. As Crosby convincingly posits, the pandemic may have "helped" to end the fighting and, interestingly, its effects upon the health of political leaders such as Woodrow Wilson and Clemenceau may have had a drastically damaging impact on settlements at the end of "the war to end all wars". Crosby also effectively explains how the nature of the influenza -- an invisible and intransigent virus sweeping in without warning, rapidly and indiscriminately killing its defenseless victims, and then, almost as rapidly, disappearing into quiescence -- may have led to making it a horror of surprisingly little lasting impact upon the consciousness and fears of the world, especially when juxtaposed against the world war dominating the headlines. Hence, "America's forgotten pandemic".

Crosby writes in an engaging, readable manner and though he has clearly done his homework and really knows his stuff, he thankfully avoids the common pitfall of scientific books of this type: beating the reader over the head with one's erudition and coming across as a condescending pedant presenting a book laden with technical indecipherables and obscurations. So, why a 7 and not a 10? Well, the people who would gain the most from the work -- budding biology research scientists and health practitioners -- will (and rightfully should) ignore whatever value I assign to the tome and will likely find the book quite inspirational to their own efforts. Nevertheless, the book is more of a scientific document and not a narrative per se, and therefore tends to lend itself more to pages of statistical detail than a more "human" reflection of the pandemic. Other works, most notably Katharine Anne Porter's "Pale Horse, Pale Rider", may give the general reader a better individual perspective of the pandemic and its effects upon the thoughts, emotions, and lives of Americans. That said, Crosby's work is well worth reading as THE complete account of one of the most deadly phenomena that has plagued mankind (tasteless pun, to my regret, intended).

America's Forgotten Pandemic: The Influenza of 1918

Alfred W. Crosby

Reader Reviews:

An Invisible Horror More Destructive Than a World War (3/3 people found this helpful)

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