""Fever of War" adds an important dimension to knowled of the
influenza pandemic of 1918-1919."
--David Killingray, Goldsmiths College, University of London
aIt is a must read for anyone interested in military or health
care history.a--"Nursing History Review"
Fever of War is well written, meticulously researched, and poses
much food for thought.a
&$151;"On Point"
"Prof. Byerly's superb research and writing bring to life an
event that held the world in its terrible grasp for more than a
year. Compelling and enlightening, "Fever of War" is well worth the
reading."
--"Armchair General Magazine"
"This is a well-written, well-researched book that generally
statys tightly on topic"--H-War
"Byerly's book provides a wealth of fascinating detail. Everyone
with an interest in the 1918-19 pandemic will profit from reading
it"--Journal of the History of Medicine
"A significant contribution to both military, social, and
medical history. . . . Fills a void and provides a valuable
corrective to a literature that ignored the role of the army in
creating conditions that maximized mortality, glorified the role of
the military, and provided explanations that shifted responsibility
to individual and racial susceptibilities."
--"American Historical Review"
"In this lucid, well-focused book, Byerly (Univ. of Colorado)
examines the 1918 influenza pandemic as experienced by the American
Expeditionary Force. In writing this important analysis, Byerly
joins scholars such as Alfred Crosby, whose classic study America's
Forgotten Pandemic: The Influenza of 1918 remains the benchmark,
and John Barry, whose The Great Influenza: The Epic Story of the
Deadliest Plague inHistory focuses on the role of public health.
Byerly's prose is exceptionally clear and elegant. Highly
recommended."
--"Choice"
a" Fever of War" is handsome, readable, and extensively
researched.a
--JAMA
"In this era of threats of anthrax, smallpox, SARS, and bird
flue, are we any less assured of our ability to conquer disease
than the generation of 1918? Perhaps Byerly's account of the great
influenza epidemic is a clarion call to wake us from our own
hubris."
--"Military Review"
aByerlyas book provides a wealth of fascinating detail. Everyone
with an interest in the 1918a19 pandemic will profit from reading
it.a
--"Journal of the History of Medicine and Allied Sciences"
aa]a significant contribution to both military, social, and
medical historya].fills a void and provides a valuable corrective
to a literature that ignored the role of the army in creating
conditions that maximized mortality, glorified the role of the
military, and provided explanations that shifted responsibility to
individual and racial susceptibilities.a--"American Historical
Review"
""Fever of War" is an outstanding addition to the literature on
U.S. participation in World War I . . . based on exhaustive
research and thorough engagement with the published scholarship in
medical, military, and social history. An important book whose
fluently written exposition is well balanced between rigorous
analysis and sensitive attention to the human beings--doctors and
victims alike--who worked and suffered through the pandemic."
--Robert H. Zieger, author of "America's Great War: The American
Experience in World War I"
""Fever of War" is handsome, readable, and extensively
researched...It is awell-priced and wonderful addition to the
historical literature and highly recommended to anyone with an
interest in the influenza pandemic of 1918-1919."
--Burke A. Cunha, MD, "The Journal of the American Medical
Association"
""Fever of War" makes a powerful argument. One cannot walk away
from the book without grasping the significant, tragic impact of
influenza on U.S. troops in WWI, and how difficult that impact was
for the nation's citizens to bear." --"Boulder Daily Camera"
The influenza epidemic of 1918 killed more people in one year
than the Great War killed in four, sickening at least one quarter
of the world's population. In "Fever of War," Carol R. Byerly
uncovers the startling impact of the 1918 influenza epidemic on the
American army, its medical officers, and their profession, a story
which has long been silenced. Through medical officers' memoirs and
diaries, official reports, scientific articles, and other original
sources, Byerly tells a grave tale about the limits of modern
medicine and warfare.
The tragedy begins with overly confident medical officers who,
armed with new knowledge and technologies of modern medicine, had
an inflated sense of their ability to control disease. The
conditions of trench warfare on the Western Front soon outflanked
medical knowledge by creating an environment where the influenza
virus could mutate to a lethal strain. This new flu virus soon left
medical officers' confidence in tatters as thousands of soldiers
and trainees died under their care. They also were unable to
convince the War Department to reduce the crowding of troops aboard
ships and in barracks which were providing ideal environments for
the epidemic to thrive.After the war, and given their helplessness
to control influenza, many medical officers and military leaders
began to downplay the epidemic as a significant event for the U. S.
army, in effect erasing this dramatic story from the American
historical memory.
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