"Between August 1918 and March 1919 the Spanish influenza spread worldwide, claiming at least 30 million lives, more people than perished in the fighting of the First World War. It proved fatal to at least a half-million Americans. Yet, the Spanish flu pandemic is largely forgotten today. In this vivid narrative, Alfred W. Crosby recounts the course of the pandemic during the panic-stricken months of 1918 and 1919, measures its impact on American society, and probes the curious loss of national memory of this cataclysmic event." "In this new edition, with a new preface discussing the recent outbreaks of diseases, including the Asian flu and SARS, America's Forgotten Pandemic remains both prescient and relevant."--Jacket.

Part I: An abrupt introduction to Spanish influenza -- The great shadow -- Part 2: Spanish influenza : the first wave, spring and summer, 1918 -- The advance of the influenza virus -- Three explosions : Africa, Europe, and America -- Part 3: The second and third waves -- The United Sates begins to take note -- Spanish influenza sweeps the country -- Flu in Philadelphia -- Flu in San Francisco -- Flu at sea on the voyage to France -- Flu and the American expeditionary force -- Flu and the Paris Peace Conference -- Part 4: Measurements, research, conclusions, and confusions -- Statistics, definitions, and speculation -- Samoa and Alaska -- Research, frustration, and the isolation of the virus -- Where did the Flu of 1918 go? -- Part 5: Afterword -- An inquiry into the peculiarities of human memory.