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Vaccine: The Controversial Story of Medicine's Greatest Lifesaver Illustrated Edition

by Arthur Allen (Author)

4.4 68 ratings

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"A timely, fair-minded and crisply written account."―New York Times Book Review

Vaccine juxtaposes the stories of brilliant scientists with the industry's struggle to produce safe, effective, and profitable vaccines. It focuses on the role of military and medical authority in the introduction of vaccines and looks at why some parents have resisted this authority. Political and social intrigue have often accompanied vaccination―from the divisive introduction of smallpox inoculation in colonial Boston to the 9,000 lawsuits recently filed by parents convinced that vaccines caused their children's autism. With narrative grace and investigative journalism, Arthur Allen reveals a history illuminated by hope and shrouded by controversy, and he sheds new light on changing notions of health, risk, and the common good.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Arthur Allen has written for the New York Times Magazine, the Washington Post, The Atlantic, the Associated Press, Science, and Slate. His books include Vaccine: The Controversial Story of Medicine’s Greatest Lifesaver. He lives in Washington, where he writes about health for Politico.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ W. W. Norton & Company; Illustrated edition (May 17, 2008)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 542 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0393331563
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0393331561
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 15 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.6 x 1.3 x 8.3 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #1,313,093 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #379 in Preventive Medicine (Books)
- #596 in Epidemiology (Books)
- #1,453 in History of Medicine (Books)

Customer Reviews:
4.4 68 ratings

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Arthur Allen

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Arthur Allen was born in Cincinnati, educated at UC-Berkeley, and began his career as a foreign correspondent for The Associated Press in Mexico and Central America. He later worked in Europe before moving to Washington where he has written about science, medicine and health for the past 20 years. He is currently an editor and reporter at POLITICO, where he writes about health and technology.

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Customers find the book interesting and enjoyable. It provides a fair look at vaccine history for more than two centuries. Readers praise the writing quality as well-written and researched, with good footnotes. They also mention that the author writes compassionately about real people.

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9 customers mention "Readability"9 positive0 negative

Customers find the book engaging and well-researched. They appreciate its historical perspective and investigative chapters. The book provides a fascinating account of vaccine development.

"...Aside from the fun aspect of this book, Mr. Allen manages to write compassionately about the real people who have believed that their children's..." Read more

"...I think this is a very well written and well researched book." Read more

"I enjoyed reading this book for its historical perspective as well as for the few chapters of investigative journalism done during recent whooping..." Read more

"...He also walks the reader through the long and facinating history of the development of vaccines...." Read more

8 customers mention "History buff"8 positive0 negative

Customers find the book interesting and informative. They appreciate the factual presentation of vaccine history for more than two centuries. The author takes the time to document his sources and provides a good understanding of vaccines without being biased.

"This will appeal to many people, from history buffs to health professionals and those of us who also love a good story...." Read more

"and the author does a good research job and then takes the time to document all his sources...." Read more

"...More interesting was the history and the arguments for/against vaccines that have been brought up over the past 2+ centuries since variolation was..." Read more

"...He also walks the reader through the long and facinating history of the development of vaccines...." Read more

6 customers mention "Writing quality"6 positive0 negative

Customers find the book well-written and well-researched. They appreciate the compassionate writing about real people and the thorough footnotes. The author does a good job presenting his side of the issue and the history of vaccines. It makes the sociology of biology vivid, and conveys the world of diseases honestly.

"...Aside from the fun aspect of this book, Mr. Allen manages to write compassionately about the real people who have believed that their children's..." Read more

"and the author does a good research job and then takes the time to document all his sources...." Read more

"...Mr. Allen writes well and gives us insights into the thought process of the anti-vax movement...." Read more

"...He doesn't mince words yet conveys the world of diseases honestly. This book reads like a good news paper article. The footnotes are incredible...." Read more

Top reviews from the United States

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Dr. B
Very enjoyable with an important message
Reviewed in the United States on January 29, 2007
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This will appeal to many people, from history buffs to health professionals and those of us who also love a good story. Myself, I always enjoy the human behavior aspect to how things came to be in our society, and the story of vaccination is terrific. Aside from the fun aspect of this book, Mr. Allen manages to write compassionately about the real people who have believed that their children's autism was caused by vaccines. There has been so much propaganda and spurious argumentation around this issue (particularly by people like Don Imus--he should be ashamed of himself), which has unfortunately lead many parents of children with autism to believe that vaccination caused their child's disability. I hope very much that Mr. Allen's work will help shine the light of reason on that sad situation.

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28 people found this helpful

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Bellecon
Topic is timely
Reviewed in the United States on May 12, 2007
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and the author does a good research job and then takes the time to document all his sources. This is why I still buy books and don't take what I see on the internet too seriously. Those who still believe that vaccines are to blame for autism or other ills their children contract won't like this book. Those who don't believe that members of a society have a certain obligation to one another as a result of living in a community won't like this book. I think that author is a little degoratory when speaking about the movements that have sprung up around the previously mentioned misconceptions but to give him his due, he does methodically go through all the material, studies etc that have been done to test these unproven hypothesis, sooooooooo. I think this is a very well written and well researched book.

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8 people found this helpful

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Sara
A fair look at vaccine history for more than two centuries
Reviewed in the United States on February 8, 2014
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I enjoyed reading this book for its historical perspective as well as for the few chapters of investigative journalism done during recent whooping cough outbreaks. I think Allen portrayed anti-vaccinating parents somewhat unfairly during the whooping cough epidemic, but perhaps his account was accurate based on what he experienced. More interesting was the history and the arguments for/against vaccines that have been brought up over the past 2+ centuries since variolation was in practice to protect against smallpox. A lot of the arguments from the early days have persisted, and he fairly points out, with skepticism, how some concerns just don't make much sense. One thing I was pleased with is that, even though this book seeems to come out in favor of vaccines overall, he didn't shy away from some of the serious issues with vaccines: such as SV40 in polio vaccine in the 60's which was found to cause tumors, and Hepatitis B being introduced during the course of vaccination because of the use of human blood serum and the routine re-use of needles for vaccinating in low-resource areas. A great book for anyone who wants a fair look at vaccine history. The only con is that it could get a bit dry during long discussions of the process of creating some vaccines and the politics involved.

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5 people found this helpful

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S. Herlihy
A Thoughtful Critique of an Important Subject
Reviewed in the United States on August 26, 2012
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This book is a highly readeable and intriguing look at an important subject. Mr. Allen writes well and gives us insights into the thought process of the anti-vax movement. He also walks the reader through the long and facinating history of the development of vaccines. A must for any parent or interested onlooker curious about this subject.

Other good books out there can also help readers understand this issue including the following one that Mr. Allen praised:

Your Baby's Best Shot: Why Vaccines Are Safe and Save Lives

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One person found this helpful

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Jeanine R. Whitney
An incredible account. Well told!
Reviewed in the United States on November 4, 2013
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Arthur Allen provides a highly accurate history of vaccinations. He doesn't mince words yet conveys the world of diseases honestly. This book reads like a good news paper article. The footnotes are incredible. I use this as a text book for my clinical students. An incredible account, well told.

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STEPHEN PLETKO
Revealing the history of the first 2 1/2 centuries of vaccination
Reviewed in the United States on June 7, 2007
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"In telling the story of vaccination, this book makes an assessment that is as fair as I can make it, based on the available evidence. I [the author] am neither a scientist nor someone with personal experience of a severe vaccine reaction [vaccines carry some measure of risk to the patient]...This book deals with preventive vaccines [that produce an artificial immunity] against infectious diseases [smallpox, polio, measles, whooping cough, etc.)...a vaccine's success as a public health measure relies on three legs of support: (1) the public, which must be confident of the safety and worth of the procedure; (2) manufactures, who seek to generate profits by making vaccines; and (3) government and public-health [workers] who...[help] further population-wide health goals. As [the reader] will see throughout this book, none of these legs is entirely stable."

The above is found in the introduction of this well-researched, easy-to-read book by writer Arthur Allen. Be aware that the author also says in the introduction the following: "I do...bring personal agendas to this book." The book itself is divided into three parts.

In the first two parts, Allen describes the history of the development of vaccines in a time when there were no clinical ethics boards or informed consent laws, the defeat of such infectious diseases as smallpox & polio, and public resistance to widespread vaccination. There's a lot here to disturb both proponents and opponents of mandatory vaccination.

The author devotes the third and last part of his book to the vaccine controversies of the last few decades. I found that this relatively brief analysis was not well connected to the first two parts. Actually, I can't understand why Allen added this third part except to "bring [his] personal agendas" to the "controversial story" of vaccination.

Allen does, in my opinion, highlight the crux of the vaccination issue by quoting somebody else:

"As in all wars, some soldiers are injured...At present, the draftees [mainly babies and small children] injured in the war on infectious diseases are in effect told by conscripting authorities, `Thank you for your contribution to the war effort, and best of success in coping with your [life-long] disability [caused by the vaccination].'"

There are two sets of black and white pictures or "plates" found in the book consisting of fourteen and sixteen pictures respectively. My favorite picture has the following caption:

"Six million New Yorkers were vaccinated within a few weeks after smallpox appeared in the city in 1947. Contemporaries were struck at the willingness of Americans to accept vaccination in this postwar period--even though the [smallpox] vaccine killed and maimed far more people that did smallpox itself."

Finally, those readers seeking a comprehensive treatment of the vaccine debate and history of vaccination outside the United States should go elsewhere.

In conclusion, readers seeking a solid history of the first 2 1/2 centuries of vaccination will find a lot to think about in this book!!

*** 1/2

(first published 2007; introduction; three parts or 10 chapters; epilogue; main narrative 440 pages; acknowledgements; notes; index)

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Top reviews from other countries

G.I.Forbes
preventative medicine
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 11, 2015
Verified Purchase
This massive 500 page tome is an excellent history of vaccination and immunisation from 1721-2003 covering all the trials and tribulations of the history,introduction,implementing programmes,resistance to actions,regulations and discussion of results.
Unfortunately the book is very American orientated with countries such as the U.K.only getting marginal mention.
One thing the author omits is that Wakefield the prime author of the infamous 1998 Lancet (later retracted) that linked -Chrons disease in 12 autistic children to measles vaccine was struck of the medical register by the General Medical Council.
An update volume is required to deal with the rapid advances in vaccines eg. Hep C, HPV,Ebola and malaria.

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Scotty13
The needle and the damage done...?
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 14, 2009
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There are few topics at the moment that gets both academics and the public at large into a froth.

Andrew Wakefield is seen by one group as a charlatan and self-publicising scientist. By those who have relatives who possibly have been damaged by vaccination side-effects he's seen as someone who has dared to speak out against Big Pharma, and try to explain what happens when society decides to mass medicate the majority and in so doing harms the few.

Allen's book is even handed and a must read for parents who have to make the decision on whether to vaccinate their children, and in which way.

There will always be the question of whether we can stipulate that a mass vaccination policy is a credible solution to preventing illness. There will always be those who suffer iatrogenic illnesses, mostly minor and short term but occasionally serious and life-long.

You decide.

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