The Spanish flu epidemic and its influence on history : stories from the 1918-1920 global flu pandemic

On the second Monday of March 1918, the world changed forever. What seemed like a harmless cold morphed into a global pandemic that would wipe out as many as a hundred-million people - ten times as many as the Great War. German troops faltered lending the allies the winning advantage, India turned its sights to independence while South Africa turned to God. In Western Samoa a quarter of the population died; in some parts of Alaska, whole villages were wiped out. Civil unrest sparked by influenza shaped nations and heralded a new era of public health where people were no longer blamed for contracting disease. Using real case histories, we take a journey through the world in 1918, and look at the impact of Spanish flu on populations from America, to France, to the Arctic, and the scientific legacy this deadly virus has left behind. A look at the 1918 influenza pandemic from its outbreak to its effects on the global population and its legacy.On the second Monday of March, 1918, the world changed forever. What seemed like a harmless cold morphed into a global pandemic that would wipe out as many as a hundred-million people—ten times as many as the Great War. German troops faltered, lending the allies the winning advantage, and India turned its sights to independence while South Africa turned to God. In Western Samoa, a quarter of the population died; in some parts of Alaska, whole villages were wiped out. Civil unrest sparked by influenza shaped nations and heralded a new era of public health where people were no longer blamed for contracting disease. Using real case histories, we take a journey through the world in 1918, and look at the impact of Spanish flu on populations from America to France and the Arctic, and at the scientific legacy this deadly virus has left behind.“Breitnauer puts the whole thing into perspective with a fascinating account of theorigin and extent of the outbreak, at a time when people were returning from the conflict expecting a brave new world and instead confronting one of the deadliest epidemics ever to hit mankind.” —Books Monthly (UK) Contents Author’s preface Prologue: The month before war PART 1: THE SECOND MONDAY IN MARCH: ORIGIN THEORIES AND THE TRAIL LEFT BY DISEASE 1 Circling Patient Zero 2 Three Waves of Death PART 2: EUROPE, AMERICA AND THE ALLIANCES OF WAR: THE EFFECT OF THE PANDEMIC ON THE COUNTRIES IN CONFLICT 3 ‘In flew Enza’: How the European Allies were affected by flu 4 The Naples Soldier: Flu and class divisions in the neutral territories 5 School’s Out in Vienna: The pandemic behind enemy lines 6 The Edge of War: How flu unfolded in the Americas PART 3: MOVEMENT, TRADE AND THE VICTIMS OF COLONISATION: EXPOSURE TO THE VIRUS BEYOND EUROPE 7 Under the Desert Sun: Influenza in Africa and the Middle East 8 The Strange One: The epidemic in colonial India 9 Closed For Business: Influenza in the South Pacific 10 Closing the Loop: Outbreak and immunity in South East Asia PART 4: SECRETS IN THE SNOW: WHAT HAVE WE LEARNED IN 100 YEARS? 11 Peace In the Time of Influenza: The impact of the pandemic on the peace process and medicine from 1919 Epilogue: Northern Exposure: What the bodies in the snow tell us about the next pandemic About the author Notes Bibliography Index