Five years ago, I decided to write a novel set in the aftermath of a terrible pandemic.
The novel was an alternate history, a revisionist Western set in the 19th century, and I ended up doing copious research on everything from cattle brands to midwifery. But I’m somewhat embarrassed to say now that my research on public health disasters was relatively slight. Essentially, I pulled up a list of flu outbreaks, picked one that best suited my plot (an 1830 pandemic that may have begun in China), and started writing.

1918FluVictimsStLouis.
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