From
the inside flap
“The
Curies’ newly discovered element of radium makes gleaming headlines across the
nation as the fresh face of beauty and the wonder drug of the medical community.
From body lotion to tonic water., the popular new element shines bright in the
otherwise dark years of the First World War.
“Hundreds
of girls paint watch faces amidst the glowing dust of the radium-dial factories.
The glittering chemical covers their bodies from head to toe; they light up the
night like industrious fireflies. With such a coveted job, these ‘shining
girls’ are the luckiest alive─until they begin to fall mysteriously ill.
“But
the factories that once offered golden opportunities are now ignoring all
claims of the gruesome side effects and the women’s cries of corruption. As the
fatal poison of the radium takes hold, the brave shining girls find themselves
embroiled in one of the biggest scandals of America’s early twentieth century
and a groundbreaking battle for workers’ rights that will echo for centuries to
come.”
Review
Radium is an
excellent, burn-through, entertaining and infuriating book about the
conspiratorial, systematic poisoning of American generations by corrupt scientists,
dentists and corporations, from 1914 through 1978. The writing is informative,
entertaining (if often downbeat and alarming), flows like a modern-day thriller,
and is one of the best nonfiction books I have read in recent years. Its theme
of corporate and scientific malfeasance is as timely, educational and enduring
as any other more-celebrated American elements and institutions, and serves as
yet another reminder of who we need to be fighting─in other words, not each
other.
Radium is
worth owning.
No comments:
Post a Comment