The Devil's Flu: The World's Deadliest Influenza Epidemic and the Scientific Hunt for the Virus That Caused It [Paperback]

Pete Davies (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0805066225 | ISBN-13: 978-0805066227 | Publication Date: October 15, 2000 | Edition: 1st

A gripping account of the 1918 flu pandemic and the modern-day hunt for this elusive and deadly virus

In 1918, a flu virus more lethal than any that has come along since swept through the world, from the remotest villages in Arctic climates to crowded U.S.cities to the battlefields of Europe, killing forty million people. Yet, despite its devastating toll and the probability that other deadly pandemics await on the horizon, it was relegated to a footnote in history. The Devil's Flu is the extraordinary story of 1918's forgotten tragedy and of the global scientific community's effort to avert another such disaster.

The 1918 flu still so intrigues and frightens experts in the field that in 1998, a group of respected scientists journeyed to the Norwegian Arctic Circle in search of the mysterious killer. In The Devil's Flu, Davies captures the excitement of the hunt and the intense rivalries within the scientific community, and paints a vivid portrait of the eccentric scientists bent on capturing the prize information that could hold the key to our future safety. And as far as the next pandemic is concerned, scientists agree: it's not a question of if, but when.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Originally published in England in 1999 as Catching Cold, this edition has the bad luck of competing with two similar American publications, Lynette Iezzoni's Influenza 1918: The Worst Epidemic in American History (LJ 6/15/99) and Gina Kolata's Flu: The Story of the Great Influenza Pandemic of 1918 and the Search for the Virus That Caused It (LJ 11/15/99). Davies, who has written on subjects as diverse as hurricanes, British politics, and soccer, here covers much the same territory as Kolata. He recounts the horrors of the worldwide 1918 epidemic; the efforts at identifying the virus strain, which led to the exhumation of long-frozen corpses in Alaska and Norway; and the 1997 outbreak of a deadly flu mutation in Hong Kong in which 1.6 million chickens and other birds were sacrificed to avert what seemed to be an emerging epidemic. Although Davies writes with the flair of a talented journalist, Kolata, science reporter for the New York Times, is more authoritative, while Iezzoni focuses primarily on the American influenza story. Libraries that have purchased Kolata's book will find The Devil's Flu an optional purchase.AKathy Arsenault, Univ. of South Florida, St. Petersburg
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Davies' book, published in Britain last year as Catching Cold , doesn't mention Gina Kolata's Flu [BKL N 1 99], though it covers much of the same ground, albeit differently. Davies devotes substantial space to Kirsty Duncan's expedition to Spitsbergen in 1998 to dig up the coffins of seven miners, victims of the 1918 flu, to see whether the virus was still present in them. Davies was on hand for much of the subsequent scientific failure and stonewalling. His descriptions of Duncan, John Oxford, and the other expedition members enliven his book in a way that Kolata's later interviews in the U.S and Europe don't quite match. Both authors cover the swine flu debacle in 1976, the 1998 Hong Kong flu, and such major players as Taubenberger, Hultin, Webster, and Laver. Both discuss work on vaccines and the possibilities of a successful one, and both agree that another flu pandemic is in the wings. Given the fame of their topic, many libraries will have no trouble accommodating both books. William Beatty
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Holt Paperbacks; 1st edition (October 15, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0805066225
• ISBN-13: 978-0805066227
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.5 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #368,924 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not Much History, April 29, 2001

By 

Kitsuno (Honolulu, United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Devil's Flu: The World's Deadliest Influenza Epidemic and the Scientific Hunt for the Virus That Caused It (Paperback)

All in all an interesting read, however there is little in the way of actual history and anecdotes about this 'forgotten epidemic' - The book focuses far more on the modern day hunt for the virus than any sort of historical examination of what happened during the epidemic. An interesting read, however, people interested solely a historical examination of the virus should probably look elsewhere.

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A look at a re-emerging lethal threat..., February 28, 2004

By 

Earl Merkel "earl" (Chicago, IL) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Devil's Flu: The World's Deadliest Influenza Epidemic and the Scientific Hunt for the Virus That Caused It (Paperback)

While researching FINAL EPIDEMIC, my novel of the re-emergence of the Spanish Flu of 1918,I was fortunate enough to have one of the epidemeologists I used as a source send me Pete Davies' book in its original British title (it was issued in 1999 in England under the title: "Catching Cold.")

Then as now, the depth of Davies' own research into both the history and the contemporary study of the H1N1 killer flu virus is as impressive as it is extensive. THE DEVIL'S FLU ranks with the best of medical non-fiction narrative on this unfortunately again-timely subject.

A startling fact about the original 1918 plague that devastated humanity --notable, since it occurred within the lifespan of many still alive today-- is the collective amnesia that so often surrounds that event.

Few Americans realize that it's extremely probable that they have a family member only a generation or two ago who fell prey to the deadly Spanish Flu pandemic; tales of when the cry "bring out your dead!" echoed along American streets were seldom passed from those who witnessed it to those of us who descended from the survivors. It takes a trip to virtually any cemetery to bring the death toll home to us, as marker after marker identifies the victims of the 1918 flu pandemic. Worldwide, deaths in 1918-1919 totalled at least 40 million humans, and very likely as many as 100 million-- all within a timespan measured in months.

As I write this, an avian influenza virus not unlike that which triggered the 1918 pandemic, if forcing the mass slaughter of chickens and other birds throughout Asia. It is an attempt to forestall the very real possibility that the virus (which already has infected human victims through bird-to-human transmission, and currently has a 70 percent mortality rate among human victims) could acquire genes which would allow for human-to-human transmission.

During research for FINAL EPIDEMIC, I interviewed dozens of medical researchers and epidemeologists. Without exception, each stated that their greatest fear was a resurgence of a influenza virus similar to the 1918 variant, which through incubation in humans mutated into a unprecedented killer of humanity. Based on the cyclic nature of flu pandemics, I was told, mankind was already overdue-- and, worse: woefully unprepared-- for such an emerging viral Shiva.

Influenza was, and remains, a universal threat: As A.W. Crosby wrote in "America's Forgotten Pandemic," his own classic examination of the 1918 Spanish Flu, "I know how not to get AIDS. I don't know how not to get the flu."

Davies' book on this reemerging threat deserves attention, as he reminds us that this kind of horrific killer virus is considered by the medical community a certainity to arise again.
At best, we can only prepare ourselves -- and wait.

--Earl Merkel
Author, FINAL EPIDEMIC (PenguinPutnam 2002)
and DIRTY FIRE (PenguinPutnam 2003)

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best Objective description of one of the biggest epidemics in History, April 27, 2007

By 

Juliana Greco (Lakewood, CO, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Devil's Flu: The World's Deadliest Influenza Epidemic and the Scientific Hunt for the Virus That Caused It (Paperback)

After having read Ms. Kolata's version as well as several others, I do understand the story is best told objectively by Mr Davies. It is the best account and is NOT interchangeable with other books on the same subject (respectfully disagreeing with the Library Review).

Further, previous reading about other epidemics (including the fabulous book by Ms L. Garrett "The Coming Plague"), Mr Davies' account of the magnitude of this epidemic is a real eye opener. Between the two books, these gifted writers, Mr Davies and Ms Garrett, provide invaluable information and the reason the global community should be concerned - always - about our world health.

Be warned, its' not easy to put the book down once you've started - he's a gifted writer that depicts the history outstandingly well.