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The Pandemic Century
The Pandemic Century: A History of Global Contagion from the Spanish Flu to Covid-19 | Mark Honigsbaum
5 posts | 1 read | 2 to read
A Financial Times Best Book of the Year The most timely and informative history book you will read this year, tracing a century of pandemics, with a new chapter on COVID-19. Ever since the 1918 Spanish influenza pandemic, scientists have dreamed of preventing catastrophic outbreaks of infectious disease. Yet, despite a century of medical progress, viral and bacterial disasters continue to take us by surprise, inciting panic and dominating news cycles. From the Spanish flu and the 1924 outbreak of pneumonic plague in Los Angeles, to the 1930 'parrot fever' pandemic and the more recent SARS, Ebola, Zika and now COVID-19 epidemics, the last 100 years have been marked by a succession of unanticipated pandemic alarms. In The Pandemic Century, Mark Honigsbaum chronicles 100 years of history in 10 outbreaks. Bringing us right up-to-date with a new chapter on COVID-19, this fast-paced, critically-acclaimed book combines science history, medical sociology and thrilling front-line reportage to deliver the story of our times. As we meet dedicated disease detectives, obstructive public health officials, and gifted scientists often blinded by their own expertise, we come face-to-face with the brilliance and medical hubris shaping both the frontier of science and the future of humanitys survival.
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Amiable
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I‘m fascinated by the history of medicine and health, particularly the relationships between science, culture and politics. As such, I‘ve collected a large stack of nonfiction books that directly relate to these topics. My husband refers to them as my “Disease of the Month Book Club.” So I‘ve created a challenge mostly to get these books off my shelves! If you‘d like to join the #DiseaseoftheMonthBookClub, welcome! Storygraph link in comments ⬇️

GinaKButler I can‘t wait to hear what you think of these! 4mo
Amiable @GinaKButler I set the Storygraph challenge dates for two full years so I don‘t get overwhelmed with death and destruction! 😀 4mo
See All 18 Comments
AnnR Interesting collection of books. I think 10 years ago, this challenge would have been right up my alley. I'll look forward to your posts. (edited) 4mo
Clare-Dragonfly @shanaqui This might interest you! 4mo
ChaoticMissAdventures What a fantastic challenge! Diseases are so interesting. I really though this one was so well done, and interesting 4mo
Amiable @ChaoticMissAdventures That one is already stacked in my queue! Plus this one by the same author: 4mo
marleed That‘s a great reading challenge! 4mo
Amiable @AnnR Feel free to suggest any others that would fit the challenges! I‘m always looking for more. To my husband‘s chagrin. 😬🙂 4mo
JenniferEgnor I‘m very interested in this stack. Could you maybe put up a close up photo of spine view or cove? 4mo
Amiable @JenniferEgnor If you click on the link to Storygraph in the first comment, it takes you to the challenge. I posted all of the books into the relevant prompts so you can see what they are. Let me know if you can‘t get into it and I‘ll list all of the books here! (edited) 4mo
shanaqui @Clare-Dragonfly Ooh, thank you, it does! Thank you!

Adding a rec to folks' piles, this is my favourite non-fiction about disease. Tuberculosis is my very favourite. (I'm studying for an MSc in Infectious Diseases, partly because I did my dissertation on tuberculosis when I did my biology degree, which was mostly because of this book.)
4mo
Amiable @shanaqui Oh, that looks good! Thanks! I‘m particularly interested in the “Spanish flu” pandemic of 1918. My great-grandmother (who died when I was 14) lived through it. I always remembered the stories she told about it and I‘ve been fascinated ever since. 4mo
Roary47 How fun! I‘d be willing to join. 🤩 4mo
Amiable @Roary47 Yay! A fellow epidemiology nerd. 😍 4mo
Chrissyreadit @Amiable wow!!! i love this!! one of my major interests also- i am joining - but if i only do some i will be happy! i am going to look at your read lists also- and what books do you recommend around Spanish Flu? 3mo
Amiable @Chrissyreadit YAY! I love that there are other weirdos out there like me who love this stuff! 🙂 So my all-time favorite book about the 1918 flu pandemic is this one: 3mo
Amiable The Barry book is kind of the classic on the topic, I think. There‘s also this one of the Barry book is too dense for your liking: 3mo
41 likes18 comments
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nocto
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Pickpick

My May #bookspin was a really good read. Full of detail about plague, parrot fever, AIDS, Legionnaire‘s disease (unexpectedly fascinating), Ebola & more; technical but very readable. Obviously written for the centenary of the 1918 flu pandemic - the Covid-19 bit at the end feels hurriedly rewritten and perhaps takes away from the message that human activity has brought all these diseases to us & that “nature is the biggest bioterrorist of all”.

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nocto
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Really enjoying my May #bookspin - fascinating to read since it was published in 2019. I‘m guessing the COVID bit will be an epilogue added after first publication. Far more than halfway through the actual book since there are a squillion notes and references in the back.

8 likes2 stack adds
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GatheringBooks
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#JumpIntoJanuary Day 28: I think it is important to deal with the pandemic with good humor and #Laughter - otherwise it will drive anyone up the wall, esp with such enticing travel books.

Eggs Especially Cobweb Removal and Locating the Front Door! 😂😂 3y
Lindy 😂 3y
BarbaraBB 57 routes to the sofa 😂😂. Love it! 3y
62 likes4 comments
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BookishMarginalia
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Once more into the breach. #TeachersofLitsy

TheKidUpstairs Best of luck! 3y
TheBookDream Stay safe! 3y
LiteraryinLawrence You‘ve got this! 3y
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Deblovestoread Wishing you a great day! 3y
jmtrivera Good luck and be safe! 3y
LibrarianRyan Good Luck!!!! Do you have to move your class room too? 3y
Gissy How was the day? 3y
BookishMarginalia @LibrarianRyan Yes — the middle school and high school are moving to a brand new campus this summer. I‘m not thinking about it until the time comes! 3y
BookishMarginalia Thanks for the 💜! @TheKidUpstairs @TheBookDream @LiteraryinLititz @Kdgordon88 @jmtrivera @Gissy @LibrarianRyan — it was a half-day to finish report cards, so no kids. Kids come back today... and the county fair goes on as usual here next week 😱 — our families love that event and traditionally attend, so 🤷🏻‍♀️🤷🏻‍♀️🤷🏻‍♀️ 3y
118 likes9 comments