A nonfiction account of one of the most deadly outbreaks of disease in human history--the Spanish Flu.

Introduction : the purple death -- "The Yanks are coming" -- The Spanish lady -- "Blue as huckleberries and spitting blood" -- "Over the top" : a brief history of World War I -- "Over there" : the first wave - Spring 1918 -- "Obey the laws and wear the gauze" : the second wave - Autumn 1918 -- The world turned upside down -- Peace and plague -- Back to Brevig mission -- Afterword : relapse? -- Miasmas, microbes, and mosquitoes: a brief history and time line of disease and medicine -- Preventing the flu: advice from the CDC.