The Spanish Influenza Pandemic of 1918

In his 1920 book, The Spanish Influenza Pandemic of 1918, historian Oscar Jewell Harvey provides a first-hand account of the devastating Spanish Influenza outbreak that swept through the United States in September 1918. With infectious and fatal qualities, the pandemic affected around 500 million people globally and claimed millions of lives, all while the nation was focused on World War I. Harvey documents how the city of Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, struggled to respond to this unprecedented health crisis, highlighting the challenges faced by medical science and public health agencies during this tumultuous time.