The Great Horse Flu

“Imagine if all of America suffered a prolonged power outage, or if all the gas pumps simultaneously went dry. With compassion and the deft hand of a preeminent historian at the top of his game, Thomas Andrews explores a largely forgotten crisis of comparable proportions: a devastating pandemic that infected millions of horses across North America, paralyzed the economy, and nearly brought national life to a halt.”—Hampton Sides, author of Blood and Thunder: The Epic Story of Kit Carson and the Conquest of the American West

“Few historical moments, and even fewer history books, bring an entire continent into view. But Thomas Andrews’s remarkable history of the Great Horse Flu has done it.” —Beth Lew-Williams, author of John Doe Chinaman: A Forgotten History of Chinese Life Under Racial Law

“Brilliant and beautifully written. Thomas Andrews fundamentally changes our understanding of the Reconstruction era by exploring relationships among animals, human and non-human alike.”—Ari Kelman, author of A Misplaced Massacre: Struggling over the Memory of Sand Creek, winner of the Bancroft Prize

“A monumental contribution to the history of contagious disease . . . Deeply compassionate, The Great Horse Flu illuminates the many ties that bind us across species, space, and time.”—Elizabeth A. Fenn, author of Pox Americana: The Great Smallpox Epidemic of 1775–82

“Weaving together a deep understanding of ecology, people, and horses, The Great Horse Flu is deeply researched and crisply delivered—a masterpiece of environmental history.”—William T. Taylor, author of Hoof Beats: How Horses Shaped Human History

“We can better understand human history when we put disease back into it, as Thomas Andrews does with this fascinating and engaging work.”—Amanda Kay McVety, author of The Rinderpest Campaigns: A Virus, Its Vaccines, and Global Development in the Twentieth Century

“Innovative and important. Thomas Andrews recovers rarely heard voices as he reveals the interconnections of North America through the lens of the epizootic.”—Susan D. Jones, author of Death in a Small Package: A Short History of Anthrax