Very, Very, Very Dreadful cover art

Very, Very, Very Dreadful

The Influenza Pandemic of 1918

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Very, Very, Very Dreadful

By: Albert Marrin
Narrated by: Jim Frangione
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About this listen

 From National Book Award finalist Albert Marrin comes a fascinating look at the history and science of the deadly 1918 flu pandemic--and its chilling and timely resemblance to the worldwide coronavirus outbreak.

In spring of 1918, World War I was underway, and troops at Fort Riley, Kansas, found themselves felled by influenza. By the summer of 1918, the second wave struck as a highly contagious and lethal epidemic and within weeks exploded into a pandemic, an illness that travels rapidly from one continent to another. It would impact the course of the war, and kill many millions more soldiers than warfare itself.

Of all diseases, the 1918 flu was by far the worst that has ever afflicted humankind; not even the Black Death of the Middle Ages comes close in terms of the number of lives it took. No war, no natural disaster, no famine has claimed so many. In the space of eighteen months in 1918-1919, about 500 million people--one-third of the global population at the time--came down with influenza. The exact total of lives lost will never be known, but the best estimate is between 50 and 100 million.

In this powerful book, filled with black and white photographs, nonfiction master Albert Marrin examines the history, science, and impact of this great scourge--and the possibility for another worldwide pandemic today.

A Chicago Public Library Best Book of the Year! Health, Lifestyle & Relationships History & Culture Literature & Fiction Science & Technology Health War Imperialism Middle Ages Africa Historical Nonfiction

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Critic reviews

"This is nonfiction at its best." —Booklist, starred review
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I bought this book because I wanted to learn about the Spanish flu pandemic of 1918-19. I am three hours into this 6hour book and that pandemic has barely been mentioned. Full of fatuous platitudes about gravity, the horrors of war, how loads and loads of people died of flu (well, yes!), viruses are not the same as bacteria (you don’t say) etc etc. If you need something to help you sleep, in confidence that you won’t miss any important bits- go for it. Otherwise I suggest you look elsewhere. Sorry to be so neg, but annoyed at wasting so much time.

Dreadful indeed

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