Virtual Event: Book Club - The Great Influenza (Parts VI - X)
Event Details
06:30PM - 08:30PM
Map address
In September, we will discuss the second half of The Great Influenza: The Story of the Deadliest Plague in History which examines the 1918 flu pandemic. In The Great Influenza, John M. Barry focuses on what was occurring in the United States at the time and attempts to place it against the background of American history and within the context of the history of medicine. The book describes how the flu started in Haskell County, Kansas, and spread to Camp Funston and around the world through troop movements during World War I.
Magisterial in its breadth of perspective and depth of research, The Great Influenza provides us with a precise and sobering model as we confront Covid-19 and the epidemics looming on our own horizon. As Barry concludes, "The final lesson of 1918, a simple one yet one most difficult to execute, is that...those in authority must retain the public's trust. The way to do that is to distort nothing, to put the best face on nothing, to try to manipulate no one. Lincoln said that first, and best. A leader must make whatever horror exists concrete. Only then will people be able to break it apart."
About the Author: John M. Barry is a professor at the Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine and Distinguished Scholar at Tulane's Bywater Institute.
Join us for a lively discussion and connect with other alums! Become a regular member or drop in as your schedule allows.
Look Who's Coming
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Carolyn A. Bahl
MD '85 -
Barbara S. Maurizi
MA '66 -
Richard Robert Peter
MS '73 -
Ted William Prim
'69, JD '72 -
