Jaime Breitnauer

A great overview of the 1918-1920 H1N1 pandemic and its effects.

The author begins each chapter with a personal story of someone who was deeply affected by H1N1. She explores the likely antecedents of the pandemic in France in 1916 and parts of China in 1917 and then fully focuses on the spread of the virus throughout America and then to Europe in a spring and fall wave in 1918 thanks to significant troop movements in World War I, and then how the virus continued to spread throughout Africa, the Middle East, Asia, Oceania, and the Americas. She describes areas terribly affected and others not as affected and the reasons why: previous exposure, better quarantine standards, better public health awareness, etc.

She does quite well at showing the long-term historical effects of H1N1: how Sykes of the Sykes-Picot treaty was having second doubts, but died before any changes were made, leading to all kinds of "what if" questions about the Middle East over the past century; and Wilson's debilitation in the wake of H1N1 and the "what if" questions about how the Treaty of Versailles would have looked had Wilson been more engaged at the end, and what that would have meant for Europe over the next two decades. Above all she speaks of how the H1N1 pandemic did not seem to leave much trace in the historical record even though the effects on individuals and families must have been enormous: physical trauma was manifest in children born during the pandemic throughout their lives; the mental and emotional trauma of survival while losing parents and other loved ones must have been immense; and few talked about it in the wake of the calamity of World War I. And yet she also speaks of how the H1N1 pandemic led many countries to better prioritize public health and led to the creation of many impressive healthcare systems which work to the benefit of many to this day.

Such also explains why the documentation of the 1918-1920 H1N1 pandemic seems so sparse: because it is sparse.

Barry's magnum opus on 1918-1920 H1N1 goes into much greater depth in terms of the science and the scientists grappling with pandemic in America, but this book does much better at telling stories of those actually affected by H1N1 and provides more global testimony to the pandemic. Do not think that just because you've read Barry you've got the whole picture; I recommend reading this work as well. On the whole, this work is much better at keeping focused on the 1918-1920 H1N1 pandemic and telling its important story for the modern age.

**--galley received as part of early review program… (plus d'informations)