By the mid-twentieth century, smallpox had vanished from North America and Europe but continued to persist throughout Africa, Asia, and South America. In 1965, the United States joined an international effort to eradicate the disease, and after fifteen years of steady progress, the effort succeeded. Bob H. Reinhardt demonstrates that the fight against smallpox drew American liberals into new and complex relationships in the global Cold War, as he narrates the history of the only cooperative international effort to successfully eliminate a disease.

Unlike other works that have chronicled the fight against smallpox by offering a ""biography"" of the disease or employing a triumphalist narrative of a public health victory, The End of a Global Pox examines the eradication program as a complex exercise of American power. Reinhardt draws on methods from environmental, medical, and political history to interpret the global eradication effort as an extension of U.S. technological, medical, and political power. This book demonstrates the far-reaching manifestations of American liberalism and Cold War ideology and sheds new light on the history of global public health and development.

About the Author
Bob H. Reinhardt is assistant professor of history at Boise State University.

Reviews
Provid[es] a true service and great lessons on the need for wisdom on our approach to global health"". - Bulletin of the History of Medicine

""A relevant, detailed, and enjoyable study of the eradication story from the American perspective"". - Journal of American History

""Offers a fresh perspective by uncovering original evidence and incorporating insights from the growing historiography of postwar international development politics"". - Environmental History

""A splendid volume that breaks much new ground and which provides a solid basis for understanding the eradication of smallpox. . . . Will be of great interest to a broad range of readers beyond those from the medical and public health professions. . . . A story well told that will appeal to many"". - Journal of Community Health

""Recommended"". - Choice

""Reads easily, vividly conveying the dread aroused by smallpox of the past and a fear of the possible future. . . . A valuable contribution to literature; it tells us much about American views, the discussion taking place within the US about smallpox and CDC/USAID involvement with smallpox and measles in Central and West Africa"". - Reviews in History

""An excellent account of American involvement in smallpox eradication"". - Social History of Medicine

""Complicates the popular narrative of smallpox by not ending with eradication, but, instead, bringing the story to a present where the meaning of that achievement becomes a great deal less certain than previously imagined"". - American Historical Review

""Reinhardt's study offers a valuable addition to the increasingly rich and varied literature on smallpox eradication, health, and global governance"". - Diplomatic History



Book Information
ISBN 9781469642321
Author Bob H. Reinhardt
Format Paperback
Page Count 288
Imprint The University of North Carolina Press
Publisher The University of North Carolina Press
Weight(grams) 433g