Polio [Hardcover]

A compelling account of the most feared childhood disease of the 20th century and its impact on victims and medical science.

This new title in theBiographies of Diseaseseries offers a thorough examination of medical and scientific efforts to battle polio, from the 19th-century identification of the virus to the great 20th-century epidemics, from the unprecedented campaign to find a vaccine to recent efforts to confront polio in West Africa and South Asia and eliminate it entirely.

Beyond the science,Poliolooks at the effects of the disease on individuals and the United States as a whole. The book gives readers a sense of what it was like to have polio and to recover from it. It also describes how the search for answers to polio led to the rise of one of America's premier medical charitiesthe March of Dimesand how modern physical therapy practices emerged alongside the polio epidemics of the 20th century.

Readers will get a sense of how frightening polio was to the public before vaccines were developed, and learn what it was like to have polio and to recover from it. Wilson's straightforward writing style should give this book wide appeal. SciTech Book News

Polioprovides general and basic information that is useful to students and anyone interested in learning more about this disease. ARBAonline

. . . compelling reference . . . A vital complement to Wilson'sLiving with Polio(2007). Library Journal

This book is an engaging read, well written and precise in its argumentation. It has drive and is easily read from cover to cover. The style is pragmatic and agreeable. The book comes with some nice extras, such as a glossary of medical terms, timeline, and bibliography. . . . Apart from being an interesting and very agreeable read, this book is certainly more than a tradilC%