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  • Pandemic 1918

  • The Story of the Deadliest Influenza in History
  • By: Catharine Arnold
  • Narrated by: Peter Wickham
  • Length: 9 hrs and 24 mins
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars (78 ratings)
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Pandemic 1918 cover art

Pandemic 1918

By: Catharine Arnold
Narrated by: Peter Wickham
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Summary

In the dying months of World War I, Spanish flu suddenly overwhelmed the world, killing between 50 and 100 million people. Nowhere escaped this common enemy: in Britain, 250,000 people died, and in the United States it was 750,000, while European deaths reached over two million.

The numbers are staggering. And yet at the time, news of the danger was suppressed for fear of impacting wartime morale. Behind the numbers are human lives, stories of those who suffered and fought it - in the hospitals and laboratories.

Published 100 years after the most devastating pandemic in world history, Pandemic 1918 uses previously unpublished records, memoirs, diaries and government publications to uncover the human story of 1918.

©2018 Catharine Arnold (P)2018 Soundings

What listeners say about Pandemic 1918

Average customer ratings
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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

History Repeats

I listened to this during April 2020, after surviving coronavirus and now back at work, encased in PPE, as a care worker. This fascinating, intimate, yet highly informative history of the 1918 flu pandemic felt so familiar. Change a detail here and the name of the virus there, and I could have been reading today's newspaper. I thoroughly recommend this book for those who want to understand the times - then and now; and those who merely like good tellings of true stories.

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4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars

Had to return it

I'm reading this book and enjoying it so I thought the audio narration would be good
The narrator was awful why have a male narrator for a book written by a woman? and a very pompous sounding man at that
I to send it back as I couldn't take any more

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Comprehensive account

Very easy to follow, interesting account of an event which is chillingly reminiscent of the current pandemic.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Brilliant book; well worth reading

This book tells the social events of the 1918 Flu Pandemic which describes the difficulties, hardship and sadness related to this period in history. Alongside WW1, there was this horrific disease to contend with. The book is well written and researched, and the narration is excellent. Thank you for a wonderful book which is a fitting tribute to all those who lost their lives and those who cared for them and paved the way for future research.




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  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Not good

Very poor narration. Almost sounded as if it was being read by an AI generated voice and not read naturally with no cadence. Unfortunately, cannot recommend as reading style distracted from content.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Very interesting...

Found very interesting and informative narration pleasantly paced and educational overall a good book 📖
Living in similar situation now, so sounds very familiar with reactions to present pandemic not so different a hundred years later.. Which makes this book and the information in it so much more compelling!!

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Brilliant

Thoroughly enjoyed the story, narration, detail and pace. Scary stuff but disappointing to finish the story /book meaning I enjoyed. Thanks Book Team and of course Author!

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  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

slow and repetitive

well read but i found the book slow and repetitive. maybe because we are all more knowledgeable about the virus, the book seemed dull. I suppose the author had not (at the time of writing) lived through a pandemic.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

interesting although very much history

Bought this at the time of the ocronavirus outbreak at the time of writing. Very interesting collection of stories of human reactions widely researched predominantly from the English speaking world.

The focus is on the human reaction, not analysis or science, but very interesting how some things are so similar to 2020 and some things so different

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Excellent book

An excellent book. Very topical at present with the current Covid-19 pandemic going on. Well read apart from the narrator doing voices/accents which I personally find annoying.

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