Influenza, World Peace, and Literature

America's Forgotten Pandemic: The Influenza of 1918
by Alfred W. Crosby

I'm sure you remember what a fan I am of the history of science (or, as Josh would say, my unhealthy obsession with diseases). I've just read this book for the first time and found it a wonderful example of research and presentation. Of course, it has all the mortality and morbidity numbers, but it also has stories from people's lives. I also found it timely with reports in the newspaper of the flu vaccine being less effective than previously believed and a scary avian flu cropping up in Asian. Seriously, if today's equivalent of the 1918 influenza hit the States, we'd be in big trouble. We've all see the disaster response in this country and that's when it's just hitting part of the country. (I don't mean to attack just the government agencies. There's not much they can do if taxpayers don't want to pay for the services in case of emergency. It's all about priorities.)

Two points in particular caught my interest as I was reading this book. The first concerns the end of World War I. Crosby suggests influenza might have seriously hampered President Wilson as he was trying to battle for his 14 points and more forgiveness for Germany at the Paris Peace conference. While there's no doubt Wilson faced some serious challenges, which he might not have overcome even in the best circumstances, it was interesting to think about how his illness (and illnesses in other important dignitaries) might have had repercussions. (On a side note, I pulled out The First World War by John Keegan to check out some of Crosby's suggestions. Keegan actually ends his book before the Paris Peace Conference, so I still don't know what he thinks. But I was reminded of how much I liked his book as well - and recommend it to anyone interested in European history.)

The other aspect of Crosby's book that impressed me was his ability to draw in experiences from literature (or a lack of experiences depicted in literature). In particular, I'm going to be adding some Katherine Anne Porter to my wish list. (For those with less time, just read Chapter 15 (the Afterword) called "An Inquiry into the Peculiarities of Human Memory.")

For anyone who's interested in other influenza books, I highly recommend Gina Kolata's Flu: The Story of the Great Influenza Pandemic of 1918 and the Search for the Virus that Caused It. It was written in 1999 and has some more recent information than you'll find in Crosby's book (originally written in 1976, though the newest edition is from 2003).