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   Reader reviews of The Great Influenza

Read what people think about The Great Influenza by John M. Barry, and write your own review.

The Great Influenza

The Great Influenza
The Epic Story of the 1918 Pandemic
by John M. Barry
Hardcover: Feb 2004,
496 pages.
Paperback: Jan 2005,
560 pages.

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Rated 5 of 5 of 5 by KC
Great Information
I found this book to be very enlightening and learned a lot about the disease, the times, the mentality, and the sciences of the day. I would highly recommend it to anyone wanting to know about this tragic time in our history. I found it easy to ready, which cannot always be said for books in this genre.

Rated 1 of 5 of 5 by Tony Montana
Garbage
This book was trash. It was redundant, and, upon reading the first page, I would rather get the Great Influenza than continue reading it.

Rated 3 of 5 of 5 by Sandra Franklin
Good information but poorly written
I appreciated the information in this book, but it appears that Mr. Barry has never diagramed a sentence in his entire life. Very poor sentence structure, and hopelessly repetitive when trying to make different points about the same subject. The book could have been reduced by half if Mr. Barry knew how to write.

Where were the editors for this book? They certainly missed their opportunity.

In Chapter 28, page 323, Mr. Barry refers to a Mrs. George Wharton Pepper as being a descendant of Benjamin Franklin, however, that is rather an impossible thing to be since Mr. Franklin had no children.

Rated 4 of 5 of 5 by Alan
The Great Influenza
This book I read for my English class and I thought it was a very touching book about one of the most deadliest plagues in History.

Rated 1 of 5 of 5 by Andy Coffman
Borderline Criminal
This book was terribly writen. It is so repetitive as to be self-defeating. It's grammaticaly pedantic insofaras to be insulting to historians and scholars everwhere. He introduces quotes and evidence poorly and fails to promote historically cogent practices. The author is the antithesis of a qualified scholor endeavoring to provide readers with subjective yet engaging narrative.

Rated 5 of 5 of 5 by Anne Howard
The Great Influenza
At first you wonder why John M. Barry is going way back to the early 1800's to talk about 1918. Then, as you are drawn into the history, like emerging into the wide end of a funnel, you get it. The history of medical education and practice, the political climate in WWI, the social situation in large and small communities, all are necessary to begin to comprehend the enormity of the crisis.

Then you think, "But we know better now." Do we?
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