This is a book not only about the influenza in 1918, its impact on America and the world in a time of war, but also about the men (and a few women!) who were trying desperately to stop it. The first part of book is actually more of a history of the development of modern medicine in the US, which is fascinating in and of itself. Amazingly, there were still a few of the older, less well-trained doctors who were still trying “heroic” medicine to try to cure influenza victims. That meant they were bleeding patients. Medicine was more advanced in Europe, and America was trying to catch up. We had several brilliant scientists, and they made some advances, but, well, it’s hard to stop a pandemic.
One of the things that was frustrating to read about was that since we were at war, most people in the US government, and in other governments as well, did not want to let the enemy know that troops were getting sick and dying. They also did not want their people to lose “morale”. In other words, they tried to downplay the severity of the disease. That might not have been so bad, if those in charge had taken it seriously themselves. But the cantonments full of young men, from all over the country, were breeding grounds for any infectious disease, and then units were transferred without a thought of what else they might be bringing with them. While nothing they did would have stopped the pandemic, we’ll never know if at least a few lives could have been saved.
I first read this book maybe ten years ago; it was published in 2004, but I don’t remember when I bought it. And I read it mostly because I wanted to learn about the impact the 1918 flu pandemic had on Americans, and on WWI. All of my grandparents lived through the pandemic, both my grandfathers served in the Great War, but none of them ever mentioned a pandemic. Re-reading now is somewhat chilling. Although we thankfully were not at war this time, history does repeat itself. Will we talk about this pandemic with our grandchildren?
If this was your family, how would you research them? Do you have anyone who died in 1918 through about 1922? Double check the cause of death. It may not say influenza, but if the lungs were involved, they might have been a victim. If you had relatives who served in WWI, check and see where they were stationed and when. And if you had relatives living in or near Haskell, Kansas, they might have been close to where it all started.