Paralyzing Fear

This book accompanied the PBS special of the same name. It did an excellent job of explaining the causes of the growing polio epidemics in the first half of the twentieth century. To think that public sanitation, which ended other deadly diseases, had a role in the increase of polio cases. It's a must read for anyone who remembers this scourge, or any historian.

This book contains a series of interviews with individuals who have either been involved in the treatment, cure, or suffering of polio. The accounts give captivating first hand insight into the horror of contracting polio, the experience of the disease progressing, the Iron Lung experience, and the therapies available at that time. Interviews with those who worked with Dr Salk, as well as his wife, are included as well.The numerous black and white photographs paint a vivid image of the experience.While this book is not intended to be a complete history of polio, it is an excellent book for those who wish to know how the polio epidemics felt, as well as the pride in the conquest of polio through the March of Dimes. This book would be a good addition for a high school or junior high school library as well.