Mark Honigsbaum

Living with Enza

At the end of the First World War there was a flu pandemic which killed more people than the war. Strangely though it was not remembered as a big event in our history. In Living with Enza: The Forgotten Story of Britain and the Great Flu Pandemic of 1918 Mark Honigsbaum tells of what he has found out about this pandemic.

The disease probably started in the army camps in France during the war, but in Britain it came in three waves, starting in mid 1918. At that time people tended to be more concerned about how the war was going, and the second wave at the end of 1918 coincided with the end of the war - soldiers coming home, celebrations, and not thinking too much about the spread of disease. The third wave at the start of 1919 was the most deadly, though I'd note here that even the first wave of the 1918 flu was much worse than the present wave of swine flu.

The book goes on to describe the outbreak of bird flu in 2005 and the speculates about a possible outbreak in Britain in 2012. One feels that Honigsbaum was rather unlucky with the timing - it seems a bit strange inventing a fictional pandemic when we're now have a very real swine flu pandemic. (We shouldn't be complacent of course, it's quite possible that we could have a bird flu pandemic in 2012 as well). The book is a bit depressing (and it's not very cheap either), so while it may be useful for those wanting more details of the 1918 pandemic, I wouldn't recommend it for 'light' reading.

Amazon.com info

Hardcover 256 pages
ISBN: 0230217745
Salesrank: 1828548
Weight:0.79 lbs

Published: 2008 Palgrave Macmillan

Amazon price $48.00

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Amazon.co.uk info

Hardcover 256 pages
ISBN: 0230217745
Salesrank: 317767
Weight:0.79 lbs

Published: 2008 Macmillan Science

Amazon price £16.14

Marketplace:New from £13.37:Used from £3.27

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Amazon.ca info

Hardcover 256 pages
ISBN: 0230217745
Salesrank: 519187
Weight:0.79 lbs

Published: 2009 Palgrave Macmillan

Amazon price CDN$ 39.06

Marketplace:New from CDN$ 24.50:Used from CDN$ 23.28

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Product Description
Never since the Black Death has such a plague swept over the face of the world, commented the Times, [and] never, perhaps, has a plague been more stoically accepted. When the Great Influenza pandemic finally ended, in April 1919, 228,000 people in Britian alone were dead. This book tells the story of the Great Influenza pandemic.

Product Description

Never since the Black Death has such a plague swept over the face of the world, commented the Times, [and] never, perhaps, has a plague been more stoically accepted. When the Great Influenza pandemic finally ended, in April 1919, 228,000 people in Britian alone were dead. This book tells the story of the Great Influenza pandemic.

Well written social history ****
A short, well rounded study of the epidemic's course in the UK. If you are seeking a full story of the 1918/1919 flu pandemic - this is not it. But the book has much to offer as a volume of specialized UK social history. The Author had access to an archive of letters with first person accounts. It is these letters and the details they reveal which make the book so interesting and give us new insights into the flu's effects on the ordinary person. Not that long - I read it in one sitting.

Well written social history ****

A short, well rounded study of the epidemic's course in the UK. If you are seeking a full story of the 1918/1919 flu pandemic - this is not it. But the book has much to offer as a volume of specialized UK social history. The Author had access to an archive of letters with first person accounts. It is these letters and the details they reveal which make the book so interesting and give us new insights into the flu's effects on the ordinary person. Not that long - I read it in one sitting.

A remarkable book with detailed information on the Great 'Flu Pandemic of 1918 *****
I was looking for information about the Great 'Flu Pandemic of 1918 and was pleased when I found this very reasonably priced book so I bought it for my husband as part of his Christmas present. He had been researching his family history and members of his family died of this terrible 'flu in 1918. This book helped him understand the terrible conditions that they and many other people lived through whilst this pandemic raged on. It's a shocking story, I never knew that so many people died, more than were killed in the First World War. Once you have read this book you will never forget it.

A remarkable book with detailed information on the Great 'Flu Pandemic of 1918 *****

I was looking for information about the Great 'Flu Pandemic of 1918 and was pleased when I found this very reasonably priced book so I bought it for my husband as part of his Christmas present. He had been researching his family history and members of his family died of this terrible 'flu in 1918. This book helped him understand the terrible conditions that they and many other people lived through whilst this pandemic raged on. It's a shocking story, I never knew that so many people died, more than were killed in the First World War. Once you have read this book you will never forget it.

Gripping without being sensationalist *****
I started reading this book quite late at night and I could not put it down. Meticulously researched, it sets out in measured prose the unfolding details of a terrible story - and one that could all too easily happen again.

Gripping without being sensationalist *****

I started reading this book quite late at night and I could not put it down. Meticulously researched, it sets out in measured prose the unfolding details of a terrible story - and one that could all too easily happen again.