America's Forgotten Pandemic: The Influenza of 1918 - Hardcover

Crosby, Alfred W.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0521833949 ISBN 13: 9780521833943

Publisher: Cambridge University Press, 2003

Synopsis

Between August 1918 and March 1919 the Spanish influenza spread worldwide, claiming over 25 million lives - more people than perished in the fighting of the First World War. It proved fatal to at least a half-million Americans. Yet, the Spanish flu pandemic is largely forgotten today. In this vivid narrative, Alfred W. Crosby recounts the course of the pandemic during the panic-stricken months of 1918 and 1919, measures its impact on American society, and probes the curious loss of national memory of this cataclysmic event. This 2003 edition includes a preface discussing the then recent outbreaks of diseases, including the Asian flu and the SARS epidemic.

About this title

Review:

"Crosby will retain his reputation as a senior statesman of the 1918 influenza epidemic, as one of the first to study it comprehensively..." Linda Bryder, The International History Review

"[This] is a definitive account of the 1918 influenza epidemic in the United States. Alfred Crosby has systematically covered the effect of influenza upon the armed forces, major cities, and American territories. Over and above this he has depicted the spread and impact of the disease over a good part of the world." Journal of the History of Medicine

"[This] is a fine, galloping account of the influenza pandemic that killed some 25 million people in less than a year. In some ways it was a page out of the Middle Ages bound in the twentieth century. No plague ever killed so many people in so short a time." Natural History

"Thoroughly researched and rich in detail, Crosby's book carefully narrates the rise and fall of the global pandemic, especially as it affected the United States." Medical History

"...fascinating..." New York Sun

Book Description:

The Spanish flu pandemic of 1918 and 1919 claimed over 25 million lives worldwide. In America's Forgotten Pandemic, Alfred W. Crosby recounts the course of the pandemic and measures its impact on American society. This 2003 edition includes a preface discussing the SARS epidemic.

About this edition

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Publication date: 2003
• ISBN 10: 0521833949
• ISBN 13: 9780521833943
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 2
• Number of pages: 356