Rating: 
Summary: An excellent science-detective story
Review: I agree with a previous reviewer who said this book is light on the 1918 influenza pandemic itself, but it is an excellent & quite accurate story of how science works to discover the facts. If this flu virus did indeed originate in China, I have a thought on how it might have first arrived in the West (suggested as 1900-1915 on p.297). It could have travelled home with American, European, & Japanese soldiers returning from fighting in the Chinese Boxer Rebellion of 1899-1900. The large Allied Expeditionary Force, composed mostly of British, French, American, Italian, German, Russian, & Japanese troops, finally fought their way into Peking in August 1900 to rescue the Western diplomats, their families, & embassy guards who had been under siege for 55 days by Chinese Boxers & Imperial Forces at the Western embassies in Peking. These troops stayed awhile to loot China, & then eventually returned to their homelands. If the early-version of this flu virus entered the West with these troops, it would have been effectively spread throughout North America, Europe & Japan, thus explaining why it suddenly emerged in these areas at the same time. The American soldiers participating in this rescue expedition were based in the Philippines, & most probably returned there before coming home, thus spreading it to that part of the Pacific. I suggest that the biological detectives described in Kolata's book check any surviving archived tissue samples from these soldiers for evidence of the virus.
Rating: 
Summary: Beginning to see what is lacking in NYT science coverage
Review: While the book is an interesting read, Gina Kolata, a science reporter for the NYT, unfortunately mischaracterizes some of the science as well as an excessive number of historical events. Ms Kolata also spends so much time on trivia (such as the details of the swine flu litigataion) and so ends the book too quickly. The book also could have used better editing -- people are frequently referred to before being introduced, and a few (like the obese Alaskan woman) are never introduced at all. If I were Dr. Duncan, btw, I wouldn't appreciate being depected as an bimbo, but I think Kolata managed to avoid libel by only citing other peoples quotes.I'm not sure that I gained new knowledge by reading this book, and I know that its going to be sold to the used bookstore next week.
Rating:
Summary: Good
Review: Pandemics make fascinating reading and cause great loss of life. The most famous one was the black plague of the fourteenth century. There is a wonderful narration of this in the delightful book THE BIBLE ACCORDING TO EINSTEIN. The pandemic of 1917 is less dramatic but is still interesting.
Rating: 
Summary: not really a history of 1918, but good on current science
Review: if you're interested in the 1918 epidemic, read Afred Crosby's book, not this one. If you're interested in current efforts of scientists who pulled the old virus off an old pathology side and sequenced the genome, this is pretty good.
Rating:
Summary: amazingly superficial and disappointing
Review: In this book she covers what seems the entire history of influenza, which includes the greatest pandemic in history in 1918-1919, the swine flu scare in 1976-- she even goes into litigation over the vaccine-- attempts to dig up bodies killed by the 1918 virus and sequence its genome, none of it in depth. In all of the footnotes for this book, there is not a single one for a primary source regarding the pandemic itself. No diaries, no lab notes, no original letters. There's hardly a reference to a contemporary newspaper. In fact, her notes cite interviews with a historian who wrote about the pandemic. Gina Kolata is a reporter, and this is a glorified newspaper story, expanded. Too bad. The subject itself is of interest.
Rating: 
Summary: Early Praise for FLU
Review: "FLU is a beautifully told story of a vastly underrated virus that has changed civilization and has the potential to do it again. Kolata's writing makes this book a veritable page-turner. I'd like to see FLU on every medical student's reading list."--Abraham Verghese MD, Professor of Medicine, Texas Tech and author of The Tennis Partner and My Own Country "In a carefully crafted book, Kolata brings to life the deadliest infectious disease outbreak in history. It's an important tale to tell because another influenza pandemic can, and almost certainly will, strike again."--Robin Marantz Henig, author of A Dancing Matrix: How Science Confronts Emerging Viruses "This is storytelling at its best! Kolata tells the gripping tale of a mysterious killer of millions that was surprisingly ignored by the media throughout the 20th century. FLU is at once a detective story and a political exposé. It provides rare insight into the lives of scientists who persevered on the trail of the killer when most others assumed the trail was forever cold. Few contemporary authors can explain science as clearly as Kolata, and fewer still can turn a century-long scientific investigation into a novel-like page-turner that no one will want to put down."--Lee Silver, Professor of Molecular Biology and Public Affairs, Princeton University, and author of Remaking Eden
Rating: 
Summary: mediocre extended newspaper article, now dated
Review: This is not a book about 1918. This is an over-hyped and overlong newspaper story about digging up bodies and trying to recover the 1918 virus from them. It's now (June 2004) much dated, which is what happens to newspaper stories.
If you want to read an actual book about the epidemic-- and about much more, including contemporary science, the virus, the interplay between politics and the disease-- then read The Great Influenza by Barry. Now THAT is worth picking up. I gave that 5 stars, and if I could give it more I would.
Rating: 
Summary: Great Book
Review: I really enjoyed this book. It was easy to read, communicated science effectively to a layman, and told a story of our times. The Flu is so closely tied in to the political and social fabric that it becomes a sort of sociological marker of how we interact and how we work together--or not. The contrast between the Alaskan expedition (one guy, $10,000) to find the virus in bodies beneath the permafrost and the ridiculous publicity-hounding one is very amusing. I like to follow flu news on influenzapandemic.blogspot.com. Great book, great Christmas gift.
Rating:
Summary: shallow and dated
Review: ever read a 4 year old newspaper story about a subject in which many developments have occurred since it was written?
that's what reading this book is like. it is not an actual history of events in 1918, so it loses out on that score. it says nothing about the current state of our knowledge so it loses on that.
skip kolata.
instead read John Barry's "The Great Influenza," which is a remarkable history of the disease outbreak and the times, explaining the politics, offering excellent characterizations, and also giving as good an explanation of how viruses and the immune system function as you will ever get.
Rating:
Summary: mediocre extended newspaper article, now dated
Review: If you're looking for a highly detailed and relatively technical discussion you might find this book a little light. However, if you, like me, have just the general exposure to the subject of epidemics, their causes and consequences, you are likely to have a good read here. A couple times Ms. Kolata's prose and approach get a little dramatic but it doesn't get in her way as far as telling the story and a little honest feeling for the subject is hardly a bad thing. Comparisons to 'The Hot Zone' are inevitable but not quite accurate. 'The Hot Zone' deals with diseases still very much a threat and almost supernaturally spooky in their virulence and mystery. 'Flu' is more a forensic look at a disease that is familiar and whose flirtation with serious mortality has, so far, been a one-time thing. Say 'Ebola' to someone and they react: where is it? how bad is it? is this the time it will get loose? Say 'flu' and most people shrug. We've all been there, done that. Influenza is a familiar, if unwelcome, guest every year. Reading Ms. Kolata's book won't exactly have you hiding under your bed come next flu season, but you might not be quite so inclined to cavalierly skip the innoculation campaign either.
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