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Title: The Titanic: Disaster of the Century

Author: Wyn Craig Wade

Narrator: Robertson Dean

Format: Unabridged

Length: 14 hrs and 12 mins

Language: English

Release date: 02-02-12

Publisher: Tantor Audio

Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 102 votes

Genres: History, 20th Century

Publisher's Summary:

In this centennial edition of the definitive book on the Titanic, new findings and interviews shed light on the worlds most famous marine disaster for its 100th anniversary.

On that fatal night in 1912, the worlds largest moving object disappeared beneath the waters of the North Atlantic in less than three hours. Why was the ship sailing through waters well known to be a "mass of floating ice"? Why were there too few lifeboats? Why were a third of the survivors crew members? Based on the sensational evidence of the U.S. Senate hearings, eyewitness accounts, and the results of the 1985 Woods Hole expedition that photographed the ship, this electrifying account vividly re-creates the vessels last desperate hours afloat and fully addresses the questions that have continued to haunt the tragedy of the Titanic.

Critic Reviews:

"A thorough, argumentative work." (John Updike, The New Yorker)

Members Reviews:

The disaster and the disaster hearings

Wyn Craig Wade's "Titanic" is my third favorite account of the tragedy (the other two were written by Walter Lord). He describes the US Senate hearings into the disaster, held within days of the event, and combines that with powerful flashbacks of the sinking itself. For example, when he recounts the testimony of Fifth Officer Harold Lowe, who was actively involved in filling the lifeboats, Wade interweaves a number of anecdotes about the lifeboats, some of them episodes that Lowe himself could not have seen but which help to fill out the story and increase the sense of impending doom.

The chairman of the Senate hearings, William Alden Smith, has come in for considerable ridicule over the years for his sometimes repetitive and often obtuse questions. Wade draws a very different picture. Smith's admittedly idiosyncratic way of questioning witnesses was actually a well-honed skill, one that elicited a great deal of information that might have otherwise been missed. (Some of it was also the result of lousy acoustics and background noise, which forced Smith to ask the same question more than once.) Smith almost single-handedly wrote the committee's report and introduced it to the Senate with a masterful speech that very effectively summed up what was then known about the sinking.

Because of Smith's efforts, many details of the story that would otherwise have been lost became a matter of public record; and the legislation that followed went a long way toward improving the chances of future travelers to survive a similar disaster. It was Smith who zeroed in on the lack of adequate lifeboats, the perfunctory and inadequate lifeboat drills, the terrible risks Captain Smith was taking by sailing at top speed in waters that were known to be dangerous (and with no additional lookouts); Smith who brought out the facts about steerage passengers' ignorance of their real danger until it was too late, about the "laissez faire" attitude taken toward their ability to reach the boat deck, about the huge discrepancy in survival rates between the classes. It was Smith who exploded the myth of the "stiff upper lip" on the part of the cultured English gentlemen: true enough early in the night of the sinking before it was clear to everyone that the ship really was going down; after that it was every man for himself, regardless of class.

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Title: On to Victory

Subtitle: The Canadian Liberation of the Netherlands, March 23 - May 5, 1945

Author: Mark Zuehlke

Narrator: William Dufris

Format: Unabridged

Length: 16 hrs and 1 min

Language: English

Release date: 01-06-12

Publisher: Audible Studios

Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 17 votes

Genres: History, 20th Century

Publisher's Summary:

It is remembered in the Netherlands as "the sweetest of springs", the one that saw the country's liberation from German occupation. But for the soldiers of First Canadian army, who fought their way across the Rhine River and then through Holland and northwest Germany, that spring of 1945 was bittersweet. While the Dutch were being liberated from the grinding boot heel of the Nazis, their freedom was being paid for in Canadian lives lost.

On to Victory is the story of those final cruel days of the war. From the brutal battlefields of Holland and northwest Germany where a collapsing enemy army still fought with fierce determination, to the unique truce in which the Germans and Allies provided food to millions of Dutch citizens starved almost to death, to those heady moments when each town and city was finally liberated, this is the little-told story of First Canadian Army's last campaign of World War II. With his trademark "you are there" style that draws upon official records, veteran memories, and a keen understanding of the experience of combat, Mark Zuehlke brings to life this final chapter in the story of Canada in World War II.

Editorial Reviews:

Having fought their way through western Germany and Holland, the First Canadian Army received a jubilant welcome from the newly liberated Dutch people in the waning days of World War II. Author Mark Zuehlke is famous for his "you are there" brand of history writing, and prodigious voice actor William Dufris does him justice here, deftly affecting the colloquial drawl of a battle-weary soldier one moment, the hushed, academic calculations of a backroom tactician in the next. Dufris recants Zuehlke's painstaking research in his rich natural baritone, so that listeners can easily distinguish where the author's own analysis gives way to first-person role playing.

Members Reviews:

Awesome and humbling

This is the 5th book I have read of Mark's and I'm not disappointed. his writing an extensive researchdoes great justice to the memory of our Canadian soldiers who sacrifice so much.

Confusing at times, narrator impossible

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

I would not recommend this audiobook to a friend, for a couple reasons. Firstly, there are too many names of individuals and units to keep track of; and, most importantly, the narrator is very distracting. He seems unable to speak many common words, such as "the." He sounds clipped and awkward, and some sentences are almost unintelligible. I will never listen to a story narrated by this man again.

If youve listened to books by Mark Zuehlke before, how does this one compare?

I have listened to Ortona by this same author and narrator. The same complaint applies for the narrator, but Ortona is easier to follow than this book.

What didnt you like about William Dufriss performance?

He seems unable to speak many common words, such as "the." He sounds clipped and awkward, and some sentences are almost unintelligible. I will never listen to a story narrated by this man again.

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Title: Harlem Is Nowhere

Subtitle: A Journey to the Mecca of Black America

Author: Sharifa Rhodes-Pitts

Narrator: Karen Chilton

Format: Unabridged

Length: 8 hrs and 46 mins

Language: English

Release date: 11-29-11

Publisher: Recorded Books

Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 2 votes

Genres: History, 20th Century

Publisher's Summary:

As gentrification encroaches on historic Harlem, Rona Jaffe Foundation Writers Award recipient Sharifa Rhodes-Pitts untangles the myth and meaning of its storied legacy. Drawing on Harlems history and her own observations, Rhodes-Pitts introduces a variety of observers who shared a common hope that Harlem would become the ground from which blacks fully entered Americas democracy.

Critic Reviews:

"[A] glittering living tapestry." (Publishers Weekly)

Members Reviews:

sort of goes nowhere

Because I had heard Sharifa Rhodes-Pitt read from her memoir at a literary gathering about a year ago, I was eagerly awaiting reading the complete book. It is elegantly written but I was somewhat disappointed. It is somewhat repetitive and not nearly as insightful as it could have been. That said, it is worthwhile.

Interesting but academic

As a history buff, I was looking forward to reading this book. The author certainly provides a good deal of information however, she seems to rely heavily on quoting other people. Perhaps this seems more evident in the Kindle format, but after a while I was wishing that she rely less on the words of others. The book seemed to be a cross between a history of Harlem and a doctoral thesis on Harlem.

The book was in great condition to be used

I was very please with all the books and other products I have purchased from Amazon. Thank you so much for asking

Harlem past and present

Sharifa Rhodes-Pitts, a native Texan who graduated from Harvard in 2000, moved to Harlem two years later to pursue professional opportunities in New York City. In 2004 she wrote an article about her experiences living there, and was encouraged to write this book, which is named after a 1948 essay by Ralph Ellison about the psychological and existential aspects of life in Harlem.

Rhodes-Pitts introduces us to several of her older neighbors, who have experienced the dramatic changes of this now resurgent section of Manhattan that counts Bill Clinton and other whites as new residents. Despite these recent changes, a culture of respect and camaraderie, based on mores of African Americans who migrated to New York from the Jim Crow South decades ago, still exists.

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Title: Exorcising Hitler

Subtitle: The Occupation and Denazification of Germany

Author: Frederick Taylor

Narrator: Matt Bates

Format: Unabridged

Length: 15 hrs and 47 mins

Language: English

Release date: 11-14-11

Publisher: Audible Studios

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 108 votes

Genres: History, 20th Century

Publisher's Summary:

In Exorcising Hitler, Frederick Taylor tells the story of Germany's year zero and what came after. Not since the end of the Roman Empire, almost 1500 years earlier, is there a parallel, in Europe at least, to the fall of the German nation in 1945.

As Taylor describes the final Allied campaign, the hunting down of the Nazi resistance, the vast displacement of peoples in central and eastern Europe, the attitudes of the conquerors, the competition between Soviet Russia and the West, the hunger and near starvation of a once proud people, the initially naive attempt at expunging Nazism from all aspects of German life and the later more pragmatic approach, we begin to understand that despite almost total destruction, a combination of conservatism, enterprise and pragmatism in relation to former Nazis enabled the economic miracle of the 1950s. And we see how it was only when the '60s generation (the children of the Nazi era) began to question their parents with increasing violence that Germany began to awake from its sleep cure.

Critic Reviews:

"Essential reading for anyone who is interested in the Nazis and wants to know what happened next." (Richard Evans, New Statesman)

Members Reviews:

Into a conquered nation

What are the rights and responsibilities of conquering nations toward a defeated enemy? Are there rules which apply, or does anything go? Do those who supported the former regime by complicity carry a responsibility similar to that of the leaders? Should they be held to account and be punished, and if so, how? How might a victor's actions bear upon the future of vanquished people?

These are some of the vexed questions the Allies faced at the end of World War II.

The problem began with surrender itself: "With the end of the war, Germany was deemed to have ceased to exist." And yet, with or without a state, its people did continue to exist, with a multitude of problems, crises, and divergent opinions. While some considered defeat a "liberation," remnants of guerilla opposition from the Volkssturm and Werwolf organizations held out to the bitter end. With multiple allies invading the former Third Reich, each of whom had their own approaches and agendas, how could sense be made of the situation?

Frederick Taylor attempts, sometimes successfully, sometime less so, to give us a clearer picture of the entangled circumstances of postwar Germany. I found parts of it extremely painful to read, and in my opinion, the book raises as many questions as it answers. It is provocative, compelling, and a great springboard for discussion for those interested in the history of warfare, law, and politics.

It is, as expected, an Allied perspective so anyone looking for a more intensive look at the German people's experience will need additional sources.

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Title: Twelve Days

Subtitle: The Story of the 1956 Hungarian Revolution

Author: Victor Sebestyen

Narrator: Rick Reitz

Format: Unabridged

Length: 13 hrs and 6 mins

Language: English

Release date: 11-02-11

Publisher: Audible Studios

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 30 votes

Genres: History, 20th Century

Publisher's Summary:

In Twelve Days: The Story of the 1956 Hungarian Uprising, Victor Sebestyen vividly recreates not only the days of the uprising but the events, meetings and days that led up to it. He goes back to give us snapshots of seminal moments in history that would decide Hungary's fate, such as the October 9, 1944, meeting in the Kremlin with Churchill, or October 15, 1949, a day that marked the execution of Laszlo Rajk, a fierce Stalinist and one of the chief architect's of Hungary's police state and the beginning of the Bolsheviks starting "to devour [their] own children".

With newly released and never-before-translated material from the Parliamentary library in Budapest, the Kremlin library, and his own family's diaries and eyewitness testimonies, Sebestyen is able to shed new light on what really happened. And he does so in a fast-paced, journalistic style that makes you feel you are right there witnessing it all.

This is a story of enormous courage in a fight for freedom and of ruthless cruelty in suppressing that dream. It was an uprising that took the world by surprise despite all the intelligence in Hungary at the time - from the CIA to the M16 and many others. Hundreds of thousands took to the streets armed with few rifles, gasoline bombs, even kitchen utensils - and for a while it looked like the revolutionaries might succeed. It was an uprising that captured the imagination of people throughout the world, and the Hungarians, Sebestyen writes, even thought that Eisenhower and the West were about to come to their rescue. But, at 4:14 in the morning of November 4, 1956, the Soviets launched a major attack to crush the uprising and succeeded. Thousands were killed and wounded, and nearly a quarter of a million refugees left the country.

This uprising was the defining moment of the Cold War and would signal the beginning of the end of the Soviet empire. Sebestyen has written a uniquely compelling and lively account of this important historical moment.

Members Reviews:

Frustrating

If you speak Hungarian, or at least know how to pronounce Hungarian names, this book will drive you crazy. The reader has no idea how the Hungarian alphabet should be pronounced in English. But let's not blame the Rick Reitz. It's the producer's fault that Rick wasn't given a text where the Hungarian names and words, used in nearly every sentence of this book, were correctly transliterated so that he could have read them they way they should be said. István = Ishtvahn, Sándor = Shandor, Rákoczi = Rakotsee, not Rakoshee and Kádár is Kadar not KaRdar! Unbelievable, disrespectful.

But if you can tolerate the carelessness that led to the bad pronunciation, or if you don't know any better yourself, then this is a fascinating story of a tragic period of European history that should not be forgotten, for these events continue to influence events in Europe today.

Rick is an expressive reader with a pleasant voice that brings the atrocities told about in this book to life.

Great Book, Horrible Pronunciation of Names

This is great survey of Post 1945 Hungary the Stalinist terror and 1956 Revolution. Now... I know outside of the few hungarian speakers this won't be an issue, But the pronunciation of Hungarian names and places is atrocious.

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Title: County

Subtitle: Life, Death, and Politics at Chicagos Public Hospital

Author: David A. Ansell

Narrator: Bronson Pinchot

Format: Unabridged

Length: 7 hrs and 10 mins

Language: English

Release date: 10-19-11

Publisher: Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 64 votes

Genres: History, 20th Century

Publisher's Summary:

The amazing tale of County is the story of one of America's oldest and most unusual urban hospitals. From it's inception as a "Poor House" dispensing free medical care to indigents, Chicago's Cook County Hospital has been both a renowned teaching hospital and the healthcare provider of last resort for the city's uninsured. County covers more than thirty years of its history, beginning in the late 1970s when the author began his internship, to the "Final Rounds" when the enormous iconic Victorian hospital building was replaced and hundreds of former trainees gathered to bid it an emotional farewell.

Ansell writes of the hundreds of doctors who wentthrough the rigorous training process with him, sharing hisvision of saving the world and of resurrecting a hospital onthe verge of closing.County is about people, fromAnsells mentors, including the legendary Quentin Young,to the multitude of patients whom he and Countys medicalstaff labored to diagnose and heal. It is a story aboutpolitics, from contentious union strikes to battles againstpatient dumping, and public health, depicting the AIDScrisis and the opening of Countys HIV/AIDS clinic, thefirst in the city.

Finally, it is about a young mans medical education inurban America, a coming-of-age story set against a backdropof race, segregation and poverty.

David A. Ansell, MD., a Chicago-based physician and health activist, has been an internal-medicine physician since training at Cook County Hospital in the late 1970s, where he spent seventeen years. Now chief medical officer at Rush University Medical Center, he sees patients, teaches, volunteers as a doctor at a Chicago free clinic, and participates in medical missions to the Dominican Republic and Haiti.

Critic Reviews:

When it comes to the stories of his patients, many of whom he cared for over decades, from clinic to hospital to funeral, Dr. Ansell soarsWe cannot have too many of these stories in circulation, to bear witness, to inform and to inspire. (New York Times)

Members Reviews:

Very Accurate account

I was in nursing school a little before the dates in the book. I attended City #2 Hospital in St. Louis, Mo. Homer G. Phillips. His account of Cook County Hospital is very accurate of the time. I saw many of the same things. Politics were the same all over the country, I could not get into the schools in Michigan where I lived. I am African American, we were not admitted to the schools there. After graduation I worked at the City Hospital in Detroit. Private hospitals did not accept minorities unless they could produce an insurance card. The rooms in the hospitals were then segregated.

He is right on target.Listening was a flash back for me.

County: Life, Death & Politics

The individual stories of life and death are interesting, but the book is really about the politics of publicly-funded health care. Most discouraging: the book spans decades and basic problems persist. On the other hand, lots of room for hope: dedicated docs and some examples of top-notch medical care. Insightful and a good example of how the personal becomes political.

Moving and disturbing account of indifference

What made the experience of listening to County the most enjoyable?

The anecdotes from former patients, who shared their stories of bureaucratic indifference to their suffering. Dr.

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Title: The Missing of the Somme

Author: Geoff Dyer

Narrator: Antony Ferguson

Format: Unabridged

Length: 4 hrs and 8 mins

Language: English

Release date: 09-15-11

Publisher: Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 19 votes

Genres: History, 20th Century

Publisher's Summary:

Geoff Dyer has won fans writing about everything from jazz to D. H. Lawrence, from photography to neurotic enlightenment, from Cambodia to Rome. The Missing of the Somme, his remarkable book on the significance of the First World War, is a gem for Dyer fans and history buffs alike.

With his characteristic wit and insight, here Dyer weaves a network of myth and memory, photos and film, poetry and sculptures, graveyards, and ceremonies that illuminate our understanding of, and relationship to, the Great War. From one of our most beloved, original authors, here is a classic book never before published in the U.S. - a personal meditation on war and remembrance.

Members Reviews:

Piquing

Leaves the reader wanting to read and discover more about WW1. Loves Owen too much??

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Title: The Man Who Broke into Auschwitz

Subtitle: A True Story of World War II

Author: Denis Avey, Rob Broomby

Narrator: James Langton

Format: Unabridged

Length: 9 hrs and 19 mins

Language: English

Release date: 07-11-11

Publisher: Tantor Audio

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 87 votes

Genres: History, 20th Century

Publisher's Summary:

The Man Who Broke into Auschwitz is the extraordinary true story of a British soldier who marched willingly into the notorious concentration camp Buna-Monowitz, known as Auschwitz III. In the summer of 1944, Denis Avey was being held in a British POW labor camp, E715, near the site of Auschwitz III. He had heard of the brutality meted out to the prisoners there and he was determined to witness what he could. He hatched a plan to swap places with a Jewish inmate and smuggled himself into his sector of the camp. He spent the night there on two occasions and experienced firsthand the cruelty of a place where slave workers had been sentenced to death through labor. Astonishingly, he survived to witness the aftermath of the Death March in which thousands of prisoners were murdered by the Nazis as the Soviet Army advanced. After his own long trek across central Europe, he was repatriated to Britain. For decades he couldn't bring himself to revisit the past that haunted his dreams, but now Denis Avey feels able to tell the full story - a tale as gripping as it is moving - which offers us unique insight into the mind of an ordinary man whose moral and physical courage are almost beyond belief.

Critic Reviews:

"This is a most important book, and a timely reminder of the dangers that face any society once intolerance and racism take hold." (Sir Martin Gilbert)

Members Reviews:

Great, great story

Who cares if it's all entirely true or not, this is a great, great story. Funny at times, gruesome in spots, this book recounts the exploits of Avery during his time in British forces of WWII. I thought it was very well written and well read. The humor is of the dry, British sort, but this book kept me listening just to find out what else could happen to Ginger (Avery's assumed name). I don't think you'll be disappointed.

More Than Just A Break-In

Great book, but I was a little mislead by the title. I expected the ENTIRE book to be about how Denis Avey broke into Auschwitz and the tale of his experiences there; turns out its just a small part of his story and did not happen until almost half way through.

But thats not a criticism; the story of his life was very interesting! The first half of the book recounts his time fighting in Libya and Egypt, his harrowing POW experiences, how he escapes a ship that was torpedoed in the Mediterranean, and how he ultimately found himself in a work camp in Poland - E715, near Auschwitz III. Thats were he meets the man with whom he will switch places on two occasions - breaking in to Auschwitz.

Although his stay in Auschwitz was very brief, what impressed me the most was his drive and determination to do it to be a witness and see things for himself. Amazing. His account was compelling, but honestly so is every survivors telling of their horrific concentration camp experiences.

I found myself more interested in his after-war life and how his story became public only about 60 years later. The search for people he knew during the war leads to the telling of the life story of Ernst/Ernie, a man he met in the camp and for whom he procured cigarettes. Turns out, those cigarettes saved Ernsts life I wont get into the details of how, you have to read the book for that, but it felt like a great full-circle.

Misleading Title

Any additional comments?

Based on the title, I was expecting a very different story.

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Title: The Brilliant Disaster

Subtitle: JFK, Castro, and America's Doomed Invasion of Cuba

Author: Jim Rasenberger

Narrator: Bob Walter

Format: Unabridged

Length: 17 hrs and 33 mins

Language: English

Release date: 04-05-11

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio

Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 63 votes

Genres: History, 20th Century

Publisher's Summary:

A remarkably gripping account of America's Bay of Pigs crisis, drawing on long-hidden CIA documents and delivering, as never before, the vivid truth - and consequences - of five pivotal days in April 1961.

The U.S.-backed military invasion of Cuba in 1961 remains one of the most ill-fated blunders in American history, with echoes of the event reverberating even today. Despite the Kennedy administrations initial public insistence that the United States had nothing to do with the invasion, it soon became clear that the complex operation had been planned and approved by the best and brightest minds at the highest reaches of Washington, including the Joint Chiefs of Staff and President John F. Kennedy himself.

The Cuban-born invaders were trained by CIA officers, supplied with American matériel, and shadowed by the U.S. Navy. Landing by sea with fighter-plane support, they hoped to establish a military beachhead and spark a counterrevolution against Fidel Castros regime. The gambit was a stupendous failure, resulting in the death or imprisonment of more than a thousand men.

Now, journalist Jim Rasenberger takes a closer look at this darkly fascinating incident in American history. At the heart of the crisis stood President Kennedy, and Rasenberger traces what Kennedy knew, thought, and said as events unfolded. He examines whether Kennedy was manipulated by the CIA into approving a plan that would ultimately involve the American military. He also draws compelling portraits of the other figures who played key roles in the drama, including Fidel Castro.

Written with elegant clarity and narrative verve, The Brilliant Disaster is the most complete account of this event to date, providing not only a fast-paced chronicle of the disaster but an analysis of how it occurreda question as relevant today as thenand how it profoundly altered the course of modern American history.

Critic Reviews:

"A balanced, engrossing account of the U.S-backed invasion of Fidel Castro's Cuba.... succeeds admirably in offering a nuanced view of the entire botched operation." (Kirkus)

Members Reviews:

US Government Perspective

This story is told almost exclusively from the perspective of high level members of the US government. There is little input from Cuban exiles or anyone who fought on the side of the Cuban government. It is not badly written but does feel very limited in its scope.

A Great Introduction to the Bay of Pigs

Most literate Americans with a historical sense are at best vaguely familiar with "the whole Bay of Pigs thing" but not many have anything but a superficial understanding of what it was about or what its significance is. Jim Rasenberger's history is perfect for the lay reader who has a fairly clear picture of the larger context of the Cold War but who seeks to fill the knowledge gap. The narrative is clear and concise and free of heavy-handed authorial conjectures slanted toward a particular political viewpoint.

Narrator is fantastic!

Would you listen to The Brilliant Disaster again? Why?

Not only do I love history, but the Narrator (Bob Walter) is fantastic! He has an amazing voice that I could listen to anytime. I am always leary about listening to books because some Narrator's voices are grating.

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Title: Pox

Subtitle: An American History

Author: Michael Willrich

Narrator: K. Todd Freeman

Format: Unabridged

Length: 14 hrs and 12 mins

Language: English

Release date: 04-01-11

Publisher: Penguin Audio

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 35 votes

Genres: History, 20th Century

Publisher's Summary:

The untold story of how America's Progressive-era war on smallpox sparked one of the great civil liberties battles of the 20th century.

At the turn of the last century, a powerful smallpox epidemic swept the United States from coast to coast. The age-old disease spread swiftly through an increasingly interconnected American landscape: from southern tobacco plantations to the dense immigrant neighborhoods of northern cities to far-flung villages on the edges of the nascent American empire.

In Pox, award-winning historian Michael Willrich offers a gripping chronicle of how the nation's continent-wide fight against smallpox launched one of the most important civil liberties struggles of the 20th century.

At the dawn of the activist Progressive era and during a moment of great optimism about modern medicine, the government responded to the deadly epidemic by calling for universal compulsory vaccination. To enforce the law, public health authorities relied on quarantines, pesthouses, and "virus squads": corps of doctors and club-wielding police. Though these measures eventually contained the disease, they also sparked a wave of popular resistance among Americans who perceived them as a threat to their health and to their rights.

At the time, anti-vaccinationists were often dismissed as misguided cranks, but Willrich argues that they belonged to a wider legacy of American dissent that attended the rise of an increasingly powerful government. While a well-organized anti-vaccination movement sprang up during these years, many Americans resisted in subtler ways - by concealing sick family members or forging immunization certificates. Pox introduces us to memorable characters on both sides of the debate, from Henning Jacobson, a Swedish Lutheran minister whose battle against vaccination went all the way to the Supreme Court, to C. P. Wertenbaker, a federal surgeon who saw himself as a medical missionary combating a deadly - and preventable - disease. As Willrich suggests, many of the questions first raised by the Progressive-era antivaccination movement are still with us: How far should the government go to protect us from peril? What happens when the interests of public health collide with religious beliefs and personal conscience? In Pox, Willrich delivers a riveting tale about the clash of modern medicine, civil liberties, and government power at the turn of the last century that resonates powerfully today.

Members Reviews:

POX

This book was recommended to me by a niece. It is an interesting read. Never realized that smallpox was so rampant in the United States. Recommend to anyone interested in this type of history.

Very slow moving and detailed

This was required reading for my daughter's college course and I picked it up as it looked interesting. However, I found it very repetitive and detailed to a fault. The concept was very interesting but I think it could have been better said in about half the words used. I could only read a little at a time before physically falling asleep. This book took forever to finish!! Great idea, but too wordy!

comment

Excellent and fascinating book - well worth reading for a sense of how medicine has changed in the last hundred years

BOOK MONSTER

I LOVE BOOKS WRITTEN ABOUT HISTORY,DISASTERS,DISEASES,ETC. THIS BOOK CAUGHT MY ATTENTION RIGHT AWAY AND HELD IT.