When this book was written, in 2006, it was more of a historical look at the unpopular WWI draft and the worldwide influenza epidemic that occurred simultaneously towards the end of the war. Reading it now, some 16 years later, it is far more difficult reading. No longer is it simply an historic exercise, but is far more fraught. And I might add this came off a list of mine of books to read and I really had no idea what I was getting into. I’m not sure if I would have read it had I known.
Commonwealth is a logging town in the hindermost back stretch of Washington State. It’s a so-called factory town, with one mill, and the mill owner has set it up in a relatively benevolent manner. So when the government tries to recruit his workers for the war effort, he doesn’t worry much, because they are all classified as essential workers. Shame they didn’t get around to registering as such.
As the influenza pandemic begins to sweep across the country, it seems merely a matter of shutting off contact with the rest of the world for a week of two, and it will all work out. They can still be running the mill, and once the rest of the world has got its act together, they can ship out the goods.
But somehow, illness has entered the community. And what a horrific disease. People would leave their house in the morning, feeling fine and then suddenly literally drop in the street. Some took to their beds and managed to pull through, others did not. No vaccines, no medicine. And children seemed to be getting the worse end of it. Both the war and the pandemic eventually cease to kill, but at a terrible cost to the survivors.
Well written and thoroughly researched, but a fairly rough read.