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Summary
Summary
A Washington Post Best Children's Book of the Month, More Deadly Than War from New York Times bestselling author Kenneth C. Davis explores the hidden history of the Spanish influenza pandemic during World War I.
2018 marked the 100th anniversary of the worst disease outbreak in modern times: the Spanish flu, a story even more relevant today. This dramatic narrative, told through the stories and voices of the people caught in the deadly maelstrom, explores how this vast, global epidemic was intertwined with the horrors of World War I--and how it could happen again.
Complete with photographs, period documents, modern research, and firsthand reports by medical professionals and survivors, More Deadly Than War provides captivating insight into a catastrophe that transformed America in the early twentieth century.
A Junior Library Guild Selection!
"An important history--and an important reminder that we could very well face such a threat again."--Deborah Blum, New York Times bestselling author of The Poison Guide: One Chemist's Single-Minded Crusade for Food Safety at the Turn of the Twentieth Century
"In an age of Ebola and Zika, this vivid account is a cautionary tale that will have you rushing to wash your hands for protection."--Karen Blumenthal, award-winning author of Jane Against the World: Roe v. Wade and the Fight for Reproductive Rights
Author Notes
Kenneth C. Davis is an American popular historian, best known for his Don't Know Much About... series. Born in Mount Vernon, New York, Davis attended Concordia College, Bronxville in New York, and Fordham University at Lincoln Center, New York City. Davis's second book, Don't Know Much About History, spent 35 consecutive weeks on The New York Times bestseller list and sold nearly 1.5 million copies. This unexpected success launched the Don't Know Much About... series.
(Bowker Author Biography)
Reviews (5)
School Library Journal Review
Gr 5-8-Davis's well-documented and fascinating study looks at the causes and consequences of the most horrific pandemic in modern history. The influenza pandemic began in the spring of 1918, and struck at a time when men and machinery were mobilizing for war around the world. With the men living and traveling in close quarters, the flu was spread through the ranks of every country, infecting a third of the earth's population. Davis uses firsthand reports from patients, medical professionals, historians, and celebrities as he demonstrates how the war and the illness were intertwined, personalizing a chapter that is often overlooked by history books. Since the book is so heavy on facts, and the audio is missing the helpful and interesting photographs, period documents, and time lines, it reads rather flat; to his credit, MacLeod Andrews does his best to add emotion and to vary his inflection for quotations. The "Milestones in Medical History" timelines are read by Adenrele Ojo, which sets them apart from the text. VERDICT A comprehensive and fascinating study of a medical and social disaster, and of the relationship between health and war, perhaps best read in print to appreciate the firsthand documents and illustrations.-MaryAnn Karre, Binghamton, NY © Copyright 2019. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Publisher's Weekly Review
Davis (In the Shadow of Liberty) immediately sets the urgent tone of his forthright chronicle, citing staggering statistics: the Spanish Flu pandemic that began in spring 1918 claimed the lives of more than 675,000 Americans in a single year and left a worldwide death toll estimated at 100 million. The author structures his exhaustive account of the origins, transmission, and consequences of the pandemic within the framework of WWI, underscoring the lethal concurrence of these "twin catastrophes." The first recorded flu outbreak in the U.S. occurred at a military training camp in Kansas; infected soldiers then spread the virus on Europe-bound transport ships and delivered it to frontline barracks and trenches. Davis puts a human face on the pandemic, interlacing tales of political, military, and civilian luminaries struck by the flu, and also connects with readers through contemporary analogies, likening German propaganda to "fake news," and a sneeze's emission of fast-flying, virus-carrying droplets to "a video game with space invaders." Davis also assiduously documents modern medical research and puts the pandemic in the context of medical history. Patriotic posters and photos illuminate both the spirit and devastation of the period. Ages 10-14. (May) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Horn Book Review
Despite the overwhelming number of people killed by the great Spanish flu pandemic of 1918, it virtually disappeared from our national consciousness, not to mention our history books. Then, too, it's a history that is inextricably linked to WWI and the global movement of troops. Davis's volume does an admirable job of juggling both narratives, supported by a generous assortment of photographs. Timeline. Bib., ind. (c) Copyright 2018. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus Review
Facts, quotes, anecdotes, and visual images tell the combined history of the 1918 flu epidemic and World War I, emphasizing the role of disease in changing history. The introduction and nine chapters open with apt quotes, usually followed by a personal story, such as one in which a 16-year-old Walt Disney contracts the flu during Red Cross training. Statistics underscore the power of the epidemic, in which 100 million may have died worldwide. The ties between the war and the epidemic are made clear throughout. The first case was reported in an army camp in Kansas. Troops spread the disease around the U.S. and brought it to Europe, where it killed combatants on both sides of the war. Civilians caught it at schools and parades, and with no cure available, it was devastating. Although most of the medical, political, and military figures introduced are white males, brief sections discuss racism and the flu, relating stories about Native Alaskans on the Seward Peninsula and an Ogala family in Nebraska. Adequate black-and-white photographs break up the text every few pages. The smooth narrative excels at connecting the epidemic and the war but assumes a modicum of background knowledge about the war and occasionally suffers from repetitiveness. A 40-page appendix reviews the role of disease in history. Readable and informative. (notes, bibliography, index) (Nonfiction. 11-15) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
There are lots of books for teens about WWI, but this vivid account takes a fairly fresh approach: Davis (In the Shadow of Liberty, 2016) argues persuasively that the Spanish flu pandemic had as much if not more of an effect on the outcome of WWI than any military strategy. Citing plenty of primary sources, Davis lays out how the pandemic was spread, the largely ineffective efforts to curtail it, and the many ways government officials, swept up in waves of nationalism, ignored the advice of medical professionals, which ultimately made the pandemic worse. Davis lands hard on that last point The story of the Spanish flu . . . is about how important it is to guard against unreasoning terror that has no basis in fact or science and although that sentiment occasionally gets lost in the staggering statistics and often-gruesome personal accounts, it's one that will ring especially true for today's young readers. Robust back matter provides further context, and plenty of historical photos and reproductions bolster the text. Engaging and illuminating.--Hunter, Sarah Copyright 2018 Booklist
Table of Contents
| Introduction The Purple Death | p. 2 |
| Chapter 1 "The Yanks are Coming" | p. 20 |
| Chapter 2 The Spanish Lady | p. 48 |
| Chapter 3 "Blue as Huckleberries and Spitting Blood" | p. 66 |
| Chapter 4 "Over the Top": A Brief History of World War I | p. 88 |
| Chapter 5 "Over There": The First Wave-Spring-Summer 1918 | p. 116 |
| Chapter 6 "Obey the Laws and Wear the Gauze": The Second Wave-Autumn 1918 | p. 136 |
| Chapter 7 The World Turned Upside Down | p. 160 |
| Chapter 8 Peace and Plague | p. 174 |
| Chapter 9 Back to Brevig Mission | p. 192 |
| Afterword Relapse? | p. 210 |
| Appendix 1 Miasmas, Microbes, and Mosquitoes: A Brief History and Time Line of Disease and Medicine | p. 222 |
| Appendix 2 Preventing the Flu: Advice from the CDC | p. 264 |
| Bibliography | p. 266 |
| Notes | p. 270 |
| Acknowledgments | p. 280 |
| Index | p. 281 |
