The Secret History of the War on Cancer

Reviews

“[Davis] illuminates the underbelly of medical research…The best watchdogs are often the most obsessive, using shock and alarm as a prelude to discussion…Devra Davis is a natural for this role.”

“This searing book from a University of Pittsburgh epidemiologist lays out thirty-five years of medical greed and cowardice that left millions of Americans vulnerable to environmental and occupational cancer deaths. Countless political books attempt to influence the electorate, but this one stands out from the pack, demonstrating why money changes everything.”

“Joining this increasingly fractious debate with devastating force, Devra Davis, director of the Center for Environmental Oncology at the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute, claims that the war ‘has been fighting many of the wrong battles with the wrong weapons and the wrong leaders.’ She calculates that these ‘fundamental misdirections’ have thrown away well over a million American lives. Her aim in The Secret History of the War on Cancer is to deliver nothing less than a ‘reckoning’ of this terrible toll.”

“In her devastating, twenty-years-in-the-making exposé…Devra Davis…shows how cancer researchers, bankrolled by petrochemical and pharmaceutical companies, among others, collude in ‘the science of doubt promotion’…Davis diagnoses two of the most lethal diseases of modern society: secrecy and self-interest. This book is a dramatic plea for a cure.”

“A wake-up call for all those who have accepted the poisons of our age of plenty without a blink.”

“A well-documented, prosecutorial account of the dark side of cancer-control politics.”

“In writing about the history of the war on cancer, epidemiologist Devra Davis explains why such secrecy surrounds the subject…Narrator Pam Ward brings a bright light to a dark topic. Her enthusiasm never wavers; furthermore, she dominates the formidable vocabulary of scientific terms and uses subtle techniques to portray conversations and quotes. For such a lengthy discussion, Ward finds just the right speed to keep listeners’ attention and yet preserve comprehension.”

“Davis writes with passion, driven by the conviction that premature deaths among her family members resulted from exposure to industrial toxins…A powerful call to action.”

“Fascinating reading…[Davis] immortalizes the many poor people in small towns next to waste dumps or downstream from hugely polluted rivers who died from cancer or whose children suffered birth defects. In almost every case, the offending corporation lied, denied, delayed or bought-off complaints, recruiting the best legal talent and, sad to say, even highly respected scientists.”

“Kudos to Davis for stepping up to the plate.”

Expand reviews