Rating: 
Summary: If you're educated, skip it.
Review: I'll admit that I may be biased being that I hold a degree in microbiology, but I found this book painful to read. This book took the essence of the 1918 flu pandemic and turned it into a tabloid. If you really want to learn about the subject then Crosby's book is where you should turn
Rating:
Summary: Not good history
Review: For a book purpoting to be about the 1918 influenza epidemic, Kolata spend little time describing the events of 1918. Instead she focusses on the search for the virus, a far less interesting subject. She also jumps around and talks about other epidemics in other places without much reason. If you are looking for a good historical account, pass on this book.
Rating: 
Summary: Pop history
Review: There is very little original research and not a highly academic endeavor. However, it is an easy read and may prove a good place to start for hobby epidemioloical history enthusiasts. From a scientific perspective, this may be the topic of the season, but it is still too soon to report on the research of epidemiologists working to unravel all of the pandemic's idiosyncracies.
Rating:
Summary: Definitely Read Crosby's Book Instead
Review: This was a disappointment because there's so little out there on the epidemic of 1918 that you rush to read everything that comes out. Save your money and get Crosby's book instead. It went out of print, then back in print (the better they are, of course, the faster they go out of print), so get it while you can. Those interested in this fascinating, under-reported subject, don't be deterred -- read the exceptionally well-written and well-researched America's Forgotten Pandemic instead and you won't be disappointed. For that matter, it's a good read even if you're not interested in the subject.
Rating:
Summary: read Crosby's book on this subject instead
Review: If you actually want to know about events in 1918, especially in the US, read Crosby's book (see link below), whom Kolata interviewed and cites as a source. It's a far better effort not only in terms of research but in depth and understanding. Kolata does do one thing Crosby doesn't: she relates events that are going on now in terms of finding samples of the virus and sequencing its genome. But since those invetsigations are still on-going, and since the crucial question about this virus remains unanswered-- i.e., why was it so much more deadly than other influenza viruses?-- Kolata can't provide satisfaction anyway, and a review of current work (which will soon be dated) is not enough to justify buying this derivative and superficial overblown newspaper story.
Rating: 
Summary: Fascinating
Review: A fascinating book..... I found it hard to put down. Reads like a mystery. The flu epidemic of 1918 was truly the "forgotten" epidemic, and anyone with an interest in history or medicine will enjoy this book. The ending was a bit of a let-down, but this is a factual book, not fiction, and we have to understand that we don't have all the answers yet.
Rating:
Summary: This book is quite a mess
Review: You get the sense, after reading this book, that when Gina Kolata felt she had enough material to fill a three hundred page book, she just transcribed her index cards and let it go at that. The book is all over the place. It is cluttered, repetitious and badly written. The great flu epidemic of 1918 should be an interesting topic in the hands of the right writer. Someone who knows more about writing than I do will have to explain what it is about Kolata's writing style that makes it close to unbearable. Not just bad--unbearable!
Rating:
Summary: A very disappointing book
Review: I purchased this book based on a radio interview with the author. The subject matter was fascinating to me. Unfortunately, the book was not. Having read some great authors (Stephen Ambrose for one), this book came across as shallow, hastily written, pulpy (a lot of filler), aimless, etc. It is the first time that I have felt compelled to write a negative review. I would definitely not recommend that anyone purchase this book. If you are curious, check it out at the library, and then be thankful that you did not buy it.
Rating: 
Summary: Important Questions Unanswered
Review: Ms. Kolata's book starts off wonderfully -- descriptions of the symptoms and spread of the 1918 flu read like something out of Stephen King's THE STAND. But some of her most fundamental questions remain unanswered (I won't spoil it by saying which ones). She raises the intriguing issue of how a pandemic in our own century -- one that killed at least 40 million people (and possibly 100 million) -- can have been so totally forgotten by everyone but specialist virologists. Yet she never offers an explanation for this issue, or even addresses it again, which I found enormously frustrating.
Rating:
Summary: Catch it (the book that is)
Review: In the autumn of 1918, as the first world war reached its end, a plague struck. That plague, known as the Spanish Flu, killed more people than the Great War itself. Why was this particular flu so devastating? Was it a genetic mutation or perhaps an exceptionally virulent strain? If it happened once, could it happen again? Could we react in time to avert global devastation? These are just some of the questions scientists are trying to answer. Gina Kolata chronicles their quest as they look for answers in the frozen permafrost of Alaskaskan Eskimo villages, where in some cases entire populations succumbed to the flu, to the open markets of Hong Kong where virologists race to contain a new horror. Flu is jam packed with mystery, adventure, and scientific drama. It's written as good journalism should be, in a clear concise manner, that informs and teaches, yet doesn't require a Ph.D. to understand. A word of caution though.
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