Pale Rider

March 13, 2019 12:45 PM - by Laura Spinney

In 1918, the Italian-Americans of New York, the Yupik of Alaska and the Persians of Mashed had almost nothing in common except for a virus--one that triggered the worst pandemic of modern times and had a decisive effect on the history of the twentieth century. The Spanish flu of 1918-1920 was one of the greatest human disasters of all time. It infected a third of the people on Earth--from the poorest immigrants of New York City to the king of Spain, Franz Kafka, Mahatma Gandhi and Woodrow Wilson. But despite a death toll of between 50 and 100 million people, it exists in our memory as an afterthought to World War I.

In this gripping narrative history, Laura Spinney traces the overlooked pandemic to reveal how the virus travelled across the globe, exposing mankind's vulnerability and putting our ingenuity to the test. As socially significant as both world wars, the Spanish flu dramatically disrupted--and often permanently altered--global politics, race relations and family structures, while spurring innovation in medicine, religion and the arts. It was partly responsible, Spinney argues, for pushing India to independence, South Africa to apartheid and Switzerland to the brink of civil war. It also created the true "lost generation." Drawing on the latest research in history, virology, epidemiology, psychology and economics, Pale Rider masterfully recounts the little-known catastrophe that forever changed humanity.

posted by Homo neanderthalensis (2 comments total)

One of the things I like about this book is that it truly looks at the world-wide repercussions of the 1918 flu pandemic, instead of just the western repercussions. Too often in these sorts of books world-wide is interpreted as American and European, but Spinney really traces how the "Spanish" flu affected world history in a way we don't often think of, and how in many places pandemic intersected with colonialism, with predictably bad results.
posted by Homo neanderthalensis at 12:48 PM on March 13, 2019 [1 favorite]

I picked the book up from the library today. I'm looking forward to reading it but it may take me a while. Looks fascinating.
posted by Cuke at 5:10 PM on March 15, 2019 [1 favorite]