Pox: An American History (Penguin History of American Life) By Michael Willrich

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. Michael Willrich C'mon Penguin, spring for an editor! The book covers important material but is so repetitive and disorganized it's practically unreadable. Too bad. 0143120786 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. Pox: An American History (Penguin History of American Life)

This is a story of medical science and public health officials both battling fear, ignorance, stubbornness to new scientific advances and yet political and social engineering correctness of its day, all in the name of finding a way to treat and/or prevent smallpox 432 pages If you are looking for a broad overview of the various small pox epidemics in the U.S. at the turn of the 20th Century, this isn't it. I think that the title is a bit misleading. It is of a legal history of the Federal government's growing police powers than an Pox: An American History (Penguin History of American Life) This book provides much needed historical context for understanding the opposing views of our current health crisis. I felt the author did a great job of presenting the various sides and points of views without trying to sway the reader's opinion toward any particular side. Kindle, Hardcover, Paperback This is an excellent book but there are a frustrating number of errors in the Kindle version. That said, we have much to learn in our time from what happened a 150 years ago with small pox. Kindle, Hardcover, Paperback I really felt like this was of a history of the vaccination movement rather than a history of small pox. It was interesting to read about how many people were afraid of the vaccination than small pox. I also had no idea the amount of force that was used to Kindle, Hardcover, Paperback

The untold story of how America's progressive era war on smallpox sparked one of the great civil liberties battles of the twentieth century. At the turn of the last century, a smallpox epidemic swept the United States from coast to coast. In this gripping account, award winning historian Michael Willrich chronicles the government's fight against the outbreak and the ensuing clash of modern medicine, civil liberties, and state power. Pox introduces readers to memorable characters on both sides of the debate from the doctors and club wielding police charged with enforcing the law to vaccinate every citizen to the anti vaccinationists, who stood up for their individual freedoms but were often dismissed as misguided cranks. Riveting and thoroughly researched, Pox delivers a masterful examination of progressive era history that resonates powerfully today. Pox: An American History (Penguin History of American Life)