Never too Late to Read Classics discussion

As many of us enter the colder months, aka cold/flu season, we will read an appropriate title that some of you voted for - Pandemic 1918: The Story of the Deadliest Influenza in History by Catharine Arnold. (Those of you in the southern hemisphere who are entering your warmer months, please enjoy that hopefully fantastic weather.) If you are tired of hearing about Covid-19, please take a step back in time to learn more about the last major pandemic that struck during the height of WWI. If you're tired of hearing about pandemics altogether, please do not feel pressured to read this book.

Pandemic 1918: The Story of the Deadliest Influenza in History was published in 2018, but the events within are classic for the world. This particular pandemic involved a very deadly virus outbreak with a fascinating history. Share your thoughts about whatever and whoever you learn of while reading.

If you're familiar with our nonfiction group reads, you know that I normally link outside websites about the subject. However, there are tons of great websites, articles, videos, etc. across the internet. I invite our members to share (credible) outside sources here as you wish.

While discussing this book about the 1918 pandemic, I also invite you to share the titles of other books you might be familiar with on the subject.

I'll be reading this one Samantha, and will probably read one or two others. I'll be careful however on my use of the internet - subjects like this attract way more than their fair share of nutters, conspiracy theories and bare-faced liars. I've already seen one review of this book which suggested that the 1919 pandemic originated in China.

There's long been a view in the UK that it should have been called "American Flu" because it almost certainly originated there, possibly in Kansas.

It will be interesting to hear on this thread the different "origin sites" named in the various books we read.

Thanks for hosting this one Samantha - it looks fascinating (if a bit grim).

I hope you enjoy learning from the book or others, John R. After dealing with the recent pandemic, I admit to being surprised that this one was voted for so strongly. The topic does sound interesting.

Have just ordered this and very much looking forward to reading it.

I suspect I'm like others, in that my interest in this book relates at least in part to the pandemic we've just come through. So I'm thinking of spending October and November on this, and including some books on Covid-19.

While I'm waiting for my copy to arrive, I'm reading New Pandemics, Old Politics: Two Hundred Years of War on Disease and its Alternatives by Alex de Waal. It doesn't qualify for this thread but it includes a section on the 1918 pandemic and I'm hoping it will give me an overview, as well as a comparison to Covid.

Apart from that I've just found out that the author's mother is Esther de Waal; I've read and enjoyed some of her books on Benedictine/Monastic/Celtic spirituality, and it will be interesting to compare their writing.

Did anyone get to check out this book, or as John is, reading something related? I love history and would be delighted to hear anything y'all learn that you find interesting.

No but I did read the Wikipedia article on it. This if factual is unbelievable:

The 1918–1920 flu pandemic, also known as the Great Influenza epidemic or by the common misnomer Spanish flu, was an exceptionally deadly global influenza pandemic caused by the H1N1 influenza A virus. The earliest documented case was March 1918 in the state of Kansas in the United States, with further cases recorded in France, Germany and the United Kingdom in April. Two years later, nearly a third of the global population, or an estimated 500 million people, had been infected in four successive waves. Estimates of deaths range from 17 million to 50 million, and possibly as high as 100 million, making it one of the deadliest pandemics in history.

The pandemic broke out near the end of World War I, when wartime censors in the belligerent countries suppressed bad news to maintain morale, but newspapers freely reported the outbreak in neutral Spain, creating a false impression of Spain as the epicenter and leading to the "Spanish flu" misnomer.

The 1918 Spanish flu was the first of three flu pandemics caused by H1N1 influenza A virus; the most recent one was the 2009 swine flu pandemic. The 1977 Russian flu was also caused by H1N1 virus.

It's two months since I ordered a copy of Pandemic 1918: The Story of the Deadliest Influenza in History from the Library - and I'm still waiting! Fortunately I bought New Pandemics, Old Politics: Two Hundred Years of War on Disease and its Alternatives by Alex de Waal. It was excellent - very well-written and informative. It doesn't qualify for our group as it includes more recent pandemics - but I'd recommend it highly.