Alfred W. Crosby, an emeritus professor of American Studies, History, and Geography at the University of Texas, Austin, describes how the 1918 influenza pandemic affected the United States. Rather than attempting to give a comprehensive account, Crosby gives an overview of the pandemic while focusing the reader's attention on particularly well-documented episodes. He describes the horrific effects of the disease in Philadelphia and San Francisco, on naval ships, and on military bases. He also describes the staggering death toll and the distinguishing characteristics of the 1918 pandemic strain of influenza. Crosby uses data tables and graphs that compare the tolls of the pre-pandemic 1917 influenza strain and the 1918 pandemic influenza strain. The numerate reader will find such data illuminating, particularly the comparison of the age of death for those who died of influenza in 1917 and 1918. Also of interest is Crosby's depiction of how the 1919 peace negotiations in Paris were affected by the third outbreak of the disease there. In discussing how the pandemic affected Samoa and Alaska, Crosby illuminates the effectiveness of public health measures such as quarantines and nursing care in controlling the spread of the disease. Crosby's concluding chapter addresses the lack of attention paid to a pandemic that killed 675,000 Americans in American history books and literature (with the notable exception of Katherine Anne Porter's Pale Horse, Pale Rider). To some extent, this book corrected that historical amnesia. Influenza researchers such as Jeffrey Taubenberger of the Centers for Disease Control have cited this book as their inspiration to do research in the field.