The Great Influenza
Hi, everyone! I’ve had company for a couple of weeks, so I haven’t’ read the posts until today. I have just finished reading “The Great Influenza: The Epic Story of the Greatest Plague in History.” It’s the story of the flu epidemic of 1918, and a very scary book indeed.
It’s a very dense book, and it takes quite a while to read it, but IMO it’s a must for anyone who is interested in medical things or the possibility of another flu epidemic here. The book reviews the state of medicine in 1918, and gives a history of how it got where it did. I found the description of medicine in the 19th Century appalling. Many medical schools did not have any labs at all, nor did the students do any autopsies. The students just listened to lectures and then went out as graduate doctors. The situation in Europe was much better, and finally doctors who studied there brought the new methods over here.
Then the book goes into the history of the flu epidemic, and there is a lot that is very troubling when one thinks of the possibility of a bird flu epidemic here (or anywhere.) The government was more of a hindrance than a help and conspired to keep the extent of the epidemic a secret from the people.
I have read two very important books in the last couple of years. One is “Clash of Civilizations” by Samuel Huntington, and this is the other one. I certainly hope the officials of the government have read it and taken the lessons to heart, but I can’t help but be pessimistic, considering the reaction to Katrina.
Susan