The Spanish Flu: Narrative and Cultural Identity in Spain, 1918

Ryan A. Davis. The Spanish Flu: Narrative and Cultural Identity in Spain, 1918. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2013. xii + 255 pp. Ill. $85.00 (978-1-13733-920-1).

In many countries since the turn of the century the number of publications about the Spanish Flu has increased. One of the reasons for the renewed interest in the 1918 epidemic was the worldwide impact of the A(H1N1) flu of 2009. Nevertheless, the main reason for the growing number of publications is that a great deal of research has been conducted regarding the multiple perspectives of disease and how it affects our society. The Spanish Flu: Narrative and Cultural Identity in Spain, 1918, by Ryan A. Davis, is one of the most original books on the subject.

During the preparation of his book, Davis, assistant professor of Spanish at Illinois State University, undertook detailed research of the most widely circulated daily newspapers in Spain circa 1918: ABC, El Liberal, La Vanguardia and El Sol (in addition to medical journals, conference reports, society magazines, etc.). In order to "analyze the...