influenza and the reaction to it by the local and national governments all provide lessons from which we can learn". hence, topinka et al. indicate their perspective of the didactic nature of the text, specifically regarding decision-making or lack thereof, as well as advocation for public education and alteration of legal frameworks under public health law. they agree with barry's discussion of the historical spread of this disease, specifically that "we must learn from the influenza pandemic of 1918". a 2004 journal of clinical investigation review said that the book was "well conceived, well researched, and extremely well written" targeting a broad audience-physicians, scientists, medical students, and history buffs. barry gewen of the new york times praised it saying "he is a good teacher, in part because he assumes that his readers don't know anything. he explains the technical stuff clearly, with nice, homey analogies". novel coronavirus sars-cov-2 reaction in the summer of 2005, then-president george w. bush read the book while on vacation at his ranch in crawford. his study would later set forth plans for the federal government to prepare for future pandemics in a november 2005 speech. in 2020, the book experienced a surge in popularity as a result of the covid-19 pandemic.