Epidemic! The 1918 Influenza Pandemic

Stephanie True Peters. Epidemic! The 1918 Influenza Pandemic. 2005, 70p. ISBN 0-7614-1636-6. 614.5 PET on the library shelves.

In 1918, in the midst of the First World War, a sickness like no other flew around the world and infected more than 2 billion people, killing between 20 and 40 million people, more than died during the entire war. The influenza pandemic struck young and old alike, and took a special toll on otherwise healthy young men and women in their late teens and early twenties.

The Spanish flu, as it became known, came in three waves and infected people at an alarming rate. Starting in army barrack, the flu spread through the military and civilian populations and as soldiers traveled the globe fighting against enemies on every continent, they bore the flu to these parts of the world. Three successive waves in 1918 and at the beginning of 1919 reduced entire populations and economies to inactivities and crippled war plans on both sides.


Stephanie Peters presents a well researched subject on what caused the flu, how it propagated, and what impact it had on the population. She also discusses information on how a pandemic could happen today and what effect it may have. This is a quick read with contemporary photos and advertisements for gizmos that in the end provided no protection at all.