A review by bri_noyes1
The Great Influenza: The Story of the Deadliest Pandemic in History by John M. Barry
5.0
I hardly ever leave reviews- and a big part of me hesitates because I fear I won't do this book justice. But it has been fascinating to read this book and compare it to what the world us currently facing with the Coronavirus pandemic. This book was originally published and 2004- well before what we are going through now. What we are going through right now is very hard to sift through because things are so politicized on both sides of the aisle. I was grateful to be able to compare it to another pandemic with history's hindsight - that was written well before this pandemic. This way I could see my own comparisons and draw my own conclusions about what we are facing.
I think as a society we forgot about this huge pandemic that happened a century ago.. Yes we know about it- but we don't really KNOW about it. We forgot how how horrible it was. How young the modern medical field really was- they were just beginning in the scientific method from medieval practices. How significantly many of the doctors and nurses were out serving in WWI. How they, too, had to quarantine, and wear masks. We forgot about the sacrifices the made and the millions of lives lost. How does the human mind even comprehend how much loss the people experienced during this time.
The author even notes that this pandemic did not leave a huge cultural mark despite how incomprehensibly devastating it was. And I think that was a missed opportunity for us to learn from them- not only on what we should do in the future to prepare for a (very) likely pandemic, but in how to make the sacrifices and support people and systems that are put in impossible positions to help us get through a pandemic with the least amount of casualties.
I also think as a society we got complacent about our medical system. We have great technology and brilliant minds that has the potential to help save us- but it cannot if it's overwhelmed. It cannot if industries that the medical system are reliant on for supplies are shut down because of sick workers.
I loved the medical history scattered throughout this and, again, especially appreciated being able to draw the comparisons to Covid.
I think as a society we forgot about this huge pandemic that happened a century ago.. Yes we know about it- but we don't really KNOW about it. We forgot how how horrible it was. How young the modern medical field really was- they were just beginning in the scientific method from medieval practices. How significantly many of the doctors and nurses were out serving in WWI. How they, too, had to quarantine, and wear masks. We forgot about the sacrifices the made and the millions of lives lost. How does the human mind even comprehend how much loss the people experienced during this time.
The author even notes that this pandemic did not leave a huge cultural mark despite how incomprehensibly devastating it was. And I think that was a missed opportunity for us to learn from them- not only on what we should do in the future to prepare for a (very) likely pandemic, but in how to make the sacrifices and support people and systems that are put in impossible positions to help us get through a pandemic with the least amount of casualties.
I also think as a society we got complacent about our medical system. We have great technology and brilliant minds that has the potential to help save us- but it cannot if it's overwhelmed. It cannot if industries that the medical system are reliant on for supplies are shut down because of sick workers.
I loved the medical history scattered throughout this and, again, especially appreciated being able to draw the comparisons to Covid.