Polio Across the Iron Curtain

Dóra Vargha is Lecturer in Medical Humanities at the University of Exeter. Her research has been awarded the J. Worth Estes Prize by the American Association for the History of Medicine, and the Young Scholar Book Prize by the International Committee for the History of Technology.

• Introduction; 1. The power of polio; 2. Iron Curtain, iron lungs; 3. Unlikely allies; 4. Local failure in a global success; 5. Sabin saves the day; 6. After the end of polio; Conclusion: Eastern Europe in global health history.

Advance praise: 'Vargha makes a major contribution to historical studies on medicine and the Cold War by examining the fascinating interaction between new local, national and global actors. Her sound interpretations go beyond Hungary and Eastern Europe and illuminate how authority is constructed and contested in the relationship between patients and physicians and the key role of disease control programs in national modernization projects.' Marcos Cueto, Casa de Oswaldo Cruz, Fiocruz, Rio de Janeiro