Authors:
Niall Johnson, Catriona Foley
The last few decades have seen the 1918–19 influenza pandemic go from a ‘forgotten pandemic’ to one of sustained interest. In this approachable work Foley has adopted a familiar structure to that of other works on the pandemic, covering the global aspects and summarising the key themes of the literature. She gives a brief introduction to the 1918 pandemic before covering the geography and demography of the outbreak in Ireland. Having dealt with the scenery, Foley allows the product of her delving through the primary sources to take centre stage. This is done with chapters on the social impact of the flu, the fear it engendered, the medical response, and the (in)action of political authority that elucidate the story of the pandemic in Ireland. These are followed by what are perhaps the most interesting chapters, those on naming and memory, before closing with chapters on consequences of the pandemic in Ireland and her conclusion.