I recently read The Great Influenza by John Barry. (Thanks to my wife for gifting it to me after I said I wanted to learn more!) While COVID-19 is NOT a flu, the book has interesting applications to the pandemic we’re experiencing today. I learned a lot. Here’s a recap

The influenza likely started at an army base in Kansas but it’s hard to know for sure. It became known as “the Spanish Flu” because Spain was neutral in WWI and was the only European country to report on it. Others censored the news in an effort to keep wartime morale high.

WWI continued to play a major part of the story. The draft brought together people from all over the country, all with varying levels of immunity. That, plus close quarters in bases and the ongoing movement of troops created ideal conditions for aggressive spread.

The flu mutated in its 2nd wave, and the deaths got grislier. Govt officials downplayed the spread despite pleas from scientists. Even public health officials denied the threat and refused to prepare action plans in fear of creating panic. Sound familiar?

President Woodrow Wilson caught the influenza when he was negotiating the Treaty of Versailles at the end of WWI. His sickness resulted in a sudden reversal of his long-held stance on peace and he backed all of France’s harsh proposed sanctions against Germany.

We know what happened next: the Treaty of Versailles was disastrous for Germany and created the economic distress and resentment that led to the rise of Adolf Hitler. Clearly, this flu impacted more than just WWI.

Something that surprised me: this flu was especially fatal for those in their 20s and 30s. The strong reaction of their immune systems to fight the virus would turn out to be more deadly than the virus itself. “They died so young, they died twice,” people lamented.

My biggest question going into the book was “how did it end?” It ran its course. It burned itself out and mutated into less deadly strains. Scientists spent their careers looking for a cause and cure long afterwards. The coolest part: all that effort led to the discovery of DNA!

Overall: it was a good read and I recommend it for historical context on the pandemic and the development of medical science.

If nothing else, learn from history and listen to scientists.