1918 pandemic: looking for non-fiction book recommendations

January 31, 2020 7:31 PM

There are a lot of books out there on the topic. I’m looking for something engaging and with layman appeal.
posted by tenaciousd to Society & Culture (7 answers total)

Best answer: My wife (US history PhD) highly recommends "The Great Influenza" by John Barry.
posted by arco at 7:46 PM on January 31, 2020 [10 favorites]

Best answer: I really liked Gina Kolata's book, Flu: The Story Of The Great Influenza Pandemic of 1918 and the Search for the Virus that Caused It (review)
posted by jessamyn at 7:49 PM on January 31, 2020 [5 favorites]

Pale Rider by Laura Spinney
posted by Homo neanderthalensis at 8:03 PM on January 31, 2020 [4 favorites]

I also enjoyed Barry’s book.
posted by stillmoving at 9:49 PM on January 31, 2020

I liked Kolata’s book when I read it a number of years back. Very narratively engaging.
posted by matildaben at 3:10 AM on February 1, 2020

Public health person here, really liked Barry’s book. I thought it was engaging (gripping, even!) and appropriate for a lay-person.
posted by john_snow at 4:46 AM on February 1, 2020

I liked America's Forgotten Pandemic, by Alfred Crosby
posted by RedEmma at 12:37 PM on February 1, 2020 [1 favorite]