Cancer Wars: How Politics Shapes What We Know and Don't Know about Cancer

by Robert N. Proctor

Book Overview

This brilliantly argued and researched book tells the story of how government regulatory agencies, scientists, trade associations, and environmentalists, have managed to obscure the issues and prevent... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0465008593
• ISBN13: 9780465008599
• Release Date: April 1996
• Publisher: Basic Books
• Length: 368 Pages
• Weight: 1.28 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 6.1" x 9.3"

Customer Reviews

Essential reading for everyone

I ardently wish that everyone- simply everyone- would read this book: it would save a great many lives. The author bulldozes through society's ideological rubbish and presents cancer in a fresh, new light. It is the responsibility of individual persons to uncover the true nature of the medical establishment, to see its goodness as well as its greed and gore, and to plan an escape route from this American epidemic. Prevention is almost everything, but preparation is also critical. This book will assist you in both endeavors. It is a magnificently informative, enjoyable, and eloquent book. Six stars.

Excellent social history of American views about cancer.

American views of the causes of cancer are only partly the result of developing science. Proctor shows how our ideas about this disease were influenced by prominent spokespeople with special interests and by broader social trends. He wisely questions our prevailing policy of cure rather than prevention.