"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...

An illustrated overview of the onset, progress, and effects of the flu epidemic of 1918, which resulted in the deaths of more than half a million people

"Before HIV or Ebola, there was the Spanish flu--this narrative history marks the one hundredth anniversary of an epidemic that altered world history"-- Dust jacket flap.

"New Year's Day, 1918. America has declared war on Germany and is gathering troops to fight. But there's something coming that is deadlier than any war. When people begin to fall ill, most Americans don't suspect influenza. The flu is known to be dangerous to the very old, young, or frail. But the Spanish flu is exceptionally violent. Soon, thousands of people succumb. Then tens of thousands ... hundreds of thousands and more. Graves can't be dug...