Holy Cow this book taught me so much. And the biggest thing it taught me is how important telling the truth in the beginning is. How important it is for government and science to gain and retain the public’s trust and be truthful. The truth was held back in the 1918 Influenza and it certainly was held back in 2020.

Fascinating in scope and presentation, Barry manages to present a hugely difficult topic in a way that any lay person can understand. The vast research done for this book, the amount of detail and insight is truly remarkable. Barry starts at the beginning and takes the reader (or listener in my case as I did this one on Audible) week by week as the virus spread from the United States around the world. Killing in the end at least 100 million people.

The 1918 epidemic was the first clash of science and a virus, at a time of war, a time of burgeoning medical science and a time of very poor leadership in the Whitehouse.

The what ifs are in the hundreds. But did we learn anything from this fatal time in our history? Apparently not.

Read it. It will truly help you understand what we are dealing with in the world today. Five stars for John Barry’s The Great Influenza.

Read last week’s review of Fifty Words for Rain by Asha Lemmie

My current read The Choice by Nicholas Sparks

See this week’s top performing pin here.

We love it when you pin and share our blog.

The link below is an affiliate link, meaning, at no additional cost to you, I will earn a comission if you click through and make a purchase. Thank you.