Requesting this book back when I was still a member of Paperback swap, I wasn't sure what exactly to expect. Along the way, not only did I learn about our health care system, the background of the medical community all over the world, but also how we responded poorly at first to the flu epidemic of 1918. Mr. Barry only expected to show about the people behind trying to solve what caused it. It became so much more and you got so much background that it truly helped give you a great look into how things were formed.
Mr. Barry took his time and kept things interesting. I never lost interest or seemed like it was boring. There were a few multiple lines of things he had to describe but nothing overwhelming. I was impressed with his knowledge. He was able to find so much when there wasn't a lot of reporting done. People's lives were at stake and that was the main focus. They worked diligently night and day to find the cause of the illness so that they could produce a vaccination to curtail the deaths.
This was a book that fascinated me from the beginning. I would definitely love to read more by this author. He has a way of captivating your attention from the very first page till the end. He makes history come alive in the pages but never condemns anyone for their actions. He just presents the whole picture of what happened and leaves it up to you to decide. A book to check out if you love History and want to get a good picture of a huge event that changed lives forever.
John M. Barry/New author/ History/ Chunkster/ 546 pages/4 out of 5
Off to some lighter reading with Debbie Macomber.
