The Influenza Pandemic of 1918–1919: A Brief History with Documents

by Susan Kingsley Kent

The influenza pandemic of 1918-19 appeared suddenly at the end of the First World War and with explosive impact took the lives of at least 30 million people worldwide. Spreading rapidly across the globe, it defied all previous understandings of the disease, striking the youngest and healthiest individuals most acutely and confounding the doctors and governments who struggled to contain it. In this volume, Susan Kingsley Kent presents an overview of the disease, detailing its symptoms, tracking its spread, and offering insights into the medical community's understanding of and reaction to the pandemic. Documents from period newspapers, medical journals, and government publications, as well as letters, journal entries, memoirs, and novels written by survivors and medical staff, provide a variety of perspectives from six continents and illuminate the impact of the pandemic — from the lives of children orphaned by the flu to colonial rebellions for which the pandemic served as a major catalyst. Document headnotes, maps and illustrations, a chronology, questions for consideration, a selected bibliography, and an index enrich students' understanding.

Genres: History, World History, Nonfiction, American History

310 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 17, 2012

Reviews

[Bryan · Rating 4 out of 5]

The actual text is quite short but very informative. But the real attraction of this book is the curated set of historical documents that give you a more intimate sense of the scope of what people faced.

[M.E. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Essentially a chapter summarizing the 'flu pandemic of a hundred years ago followed by a series of documents supporting it.

This was written before SARS-CoV-2 which makes all the similarities that much more poignant. If you think for a moment anything about COVID-19 is original or hasn't been seen before, I highly recommend this book. Everything from mandates to wear face masks and avoid social gatherings to worthless, crack-pot claims of preventatives (e.g. sugar cubes dipped in kerosine) will be all too familiar.

If you're looking for a long, detailed treatise then you probably want a different book, but if you want something fast and concise to compare to current times, this is a really good choice.

[Michael Anderson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Started in midwestern US, spread to the European war on US troop ships, and quickly around the world. May have effected both the outcome of World War I and the treaty negotiations that arguably led to the later rise of fascism in Germany. Highly virulent, the flu killed somewhere between 30 and 100 million people and approximately 16% of those who contracted it, and was essentially forgotten in the years to follow. This is a short academic book with many personal recollections and many source documents listed. Good read.

[HobbesR · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was curious about this pandemic from 100 years ago especially as we go through covid-19.
The book is really easy to read, it is split in 2 parts:
1. A quick overview of the situation and some details about the medical and political historical context
2. Many documents from the period, journals, newspapers, commercials etc.
It is fascinating to see how little changed between then and now.
It's meant to be for students so the reading is convenient and fast. Would definitely recommend it to have a little more context on the influenza from 18-19.

[Ann · Rating 3 out of 5]

This year (2018) marks the 100th anniversary of the global influenza pandemic that killed more than a half a million Americans and tens of millions of people around the world--far more than died in the Great War that preceded it. I worked on this little primary documents reader a few years ago, and it's one of those books that I've never quite shaken. First-person narratives of the illness from doctors, nurses, and survivors around the globe rival what you read in Stephen King's The Stand. The panic in the newspapers and memos outlining efforts of government agencies as they struggled to deal with it will set your teeth on edge.

I'm giving it a neutral 3 star rating only because it feels weird to plug a book that I've personally worked on. But I highly recommend this slim little volume. You can read it in a day.

And if you don't read it, please, at least make sure you get your flu shot every year!

[Dan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sweet primary source documents!