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About Polio: An American Story

New York Times Notable Book author and acclaimed University of Texas professor David M. Oshinsky is a leading American political and cultural historian. Garnering the 2006 Pulitzer Prize in History, this comprehensive and gripping narrative covers all the challenges, characters, and controversies in America’s relentless struggle against polio. As poliomyelitis stalked the land, its paralyzing grip terrified millions. But for each victim of polio’s paralysis, 99 others unknowingly contracted and spread this insidious virus. A summertime predator, crippling poliovirus usually targeted children—especially boys. When Franklin D. Roosevelt contracted polio in 1921, however, the arduous search for a cure—funded by private philanthropy and grassroots contributions—received an all-important boost. Eventually, research leading to Jonas Salk’s killed-virus vaccine (1954) and Albert Sabin’s live-virus vaccine (1961) offered hope for eradicating this dreaded disease. “Narrative history doesn’t get much better.”—Booklist, starred review