From Publishers Weekly
Often regarded as "one of the most important landmarks of the twentieth century," the contraceptive pill has achieved both more and less than its original early 20th-century advocates had hoped. Medical historian Marks, a senior lecturer at Imperial College, University of London, shows how concerns about population growth, along with the West's post-WWII faith in scientific progress, led to the century's first "designer" or "lifestyle" drug. She explains how new developments in chemistry and the discovery of hormone-yielding wild plants made birth control pill research possible, and why it took so long to develop. She also shows how cultural factors affected women's eagerness or reluctance to try the new method of contraception. Though much criticism has been leveled at the medical establishment for rushing the pill to market without sufficient testing, Marks points out that experimental protocols were vague during this period, and argues that contraceptive researchers were stymied by the difficulties of testing the pill outside of strictly controlled lab conditions. Marks is evenhanded in her treatment of sensitive issues, such as the Black Power movement's perception of birth control as racist, and the Catholic Church's theological objections. Though the pill has proved too expensive for widespread use in developing countries, where some had hoped it would curb population growth, it has been embraced by middle-class women and has made possible career and lifestyle choices we now take for granted. Extensively researched and clearly written, this book will be essential reading in the fields of women's studies and the history of science.
Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
From Library Journal
Catholic obstetrician John Rock considered the pill a "morally permissible variant of the rhythm method" and assisted in its development. This is one of the many fascinating complexities found in the annals of contraception and recounted in these two books. U.S. historian Tone chronicles U.S. practices from the 1800s and Comstock era censorship, when underground cottage-industry products for both men and women thrived, advertised via euphemisms like "feminine hygiene." Under pressure from changing laws and Margaret Sanger, physicians gradually took over, touting first the diaphragm, then the pill and the IUD. As Tone recounts, condoms have remained popular; but lawsuits from medical methods and high consumer expectations post-pill have led to dampened development of new contraceptives and to sterilization's becoming popular. This account of the women who wanted to avoid pregnancy and the men and women who wanted to help them and profit from them is detailed, readable, and exhaustively referenced. For her focus on "the Pill," British historian Marks covers scientific development, testing, and use in the United States and beyond Latin America, Europe, Asia, and Africa. Marks's account is as detailed and well referenced as Tone's, somewhat more scholarly, and sometimes hard to follow since chapters are based on subtopics rather than time units. Her more medical/scientific detail and global perspective complement the coverage found in Elizabeth Watkins's On the Pill: A Social History of Oral Contraceptives 1950-70 (Johns Hopkins Univ., 1998). Both Marks's and Tone's books are recommended for academic and large public libraries, and the latter is appropriate for smaller public libraries as well. Consider also James Reed's Eve's Herbs (1978) about herbal birth control since ancient times. (Tone's illustrations not seen.) Martha Cornog, Philadelphia
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.
