Black flu 1918 : the story of New Zealand's worst public health disaster / Geoffrey W. Rice.

Christchurch, New Zealand : Canterbury University Press, 2017.

96 pages : illustrations (some colour), maps, portraits (some colour) ; 27 cm

Preface -- 1. Understanding the 1918 influenza pandemic (What is influenza? ; What is the difference betweem an epidemic and a pandemic? ; What was different about the 1918 flu? ; Spanish Flu or Black Flu? ; Where did it start? How did it spread?) -- 2. What part did the First World War play? (What turned a mild flu into a killer flu? ; Mustard gas: did a world war cause a worldwide disease outbreak? ; Scary headlines ; Australia's maritime quarantine) -- 3. The flu reaches New Zealand (Do your duty! ; Did Bill Massey bring the flu on the Niagara? ; Auckland's Armistice epidemic ; Rapid spread ; Celebrating peace, spreading infection) -- 4. Organising support as the flu spreads (Block system, depots, temporary hospitals ; The southern cities ; Maori communities were devastated ; Western Samoa) -- 5. Caring for the sick and their families (Feeding the feeble: soup kitchens and distribution of food and medicine ; What happened to the children? ; Inhalation sprayers and official cough medicine ; Desperate measures ; Deaths in mental hospitals and military camps ; Then suddenly it was all over) -- 6. Reviewing the disaster (How many New Zealanders died in the 1918 flu? ; The Epidemic Commission ; Dr. Maksgill and the new Health Act, 1920 ; The myth of mass graves in Auckland ; New hospitals and changes to town planning ; New school classroom design ; Why so few memorials to the 1918 flu? ) -- 7. Research and lessons learned (Recent research: Why was 1918 so deadly? ; Could it happen again? Are we prepared? ; Lessons of the 1918 flu in New Zealand ; The cost of flu to New Zealand ; Nation-building)

Includes bibliographical references (pages 89-91) and index.