Best Books About Pandemics

We’ve all become something of an armchair expert about pandemics the last couple of years, whether that was our intention or not. These books about pandemics let us delve a little deeper into our new specialist subject, from the origins of pandemics to pandemics from the past.

1. The Great Influenza- John M Barry

The Great Influenza is the story of one of the deadliest pandemics in human history – the 1918 Spanish flu. Anyone who has lived through Covid19 will be struck by the similarities of pandemics 100 years apart, but also be eternally grateful for the progressions in understanding of medicine that those 100 years have allowed. This isn’t just a history of the 1918 flu, however, it also sets out the history of medicine and how recently a medical career was not the scientific endeavour it is now. If you have any interest in pandemics, this thorough and engaging read will fascinate you.

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2. Spillover – David Quammen

This is an intelligent look into the inseparability of man from nature and how various diseases, including Hendra, SARS, Lyme disease and Marburg have made the crossover from animals to humans.

From reservoirs to amplifier hosts it explains something of the conditions needed to create the next big human pandemic. Originally written before Covid19 it is prescient in its predictions, but also sobering in that it shows, without question, that Covid19 is not a one off.

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