New Release Books by Gerald Markowitz

In this incisive examination of lead poisoning during the past half century, Gerald Markowitz and David Rosner focus on one of the most contentious and bitter battles in the history of public health. Lead Wars details how the nature of the epidemic has changed and highlights the dilemmas public health agencies face today in terms of prevention strategies and chronic illness linked to low levels of toxic exposure. The authors use the opinion by Maryland’s Court of Appeals—which considered whether researchers at Johns Hopkins University’s prestigious Kennedy Krieger Institute (KKI) engaged in unethical research on 108 African-American children—as a springboard to ask fundamental questions about the practice and future of public health. Lead Wars chronicles the obstacles faced by public health workers in the conservative, pro-business, anti-regulatory climate that took off in the Reagan years and that stymied efforts to eliminate lead from the environments and the bodies of American children.

A portrait of two important black social scientists and a broader history of race relations, this important work captures the vitality and chaos of post-war politics in New York, recasting the story of the civil rights movement.

Environmental Health I Health Care Policy I History Of Medicine --

A contemporary history of a critical period, Are We Ready? analyzes the impact of 9/11, the anthrax attacks that followed, and preparations for a possible smallpox attack on the nation''s public health infrastructure. David Rosner and Gerald Markowitz interviewed local, state, and federal officials to determine the immediate reactions of key participants in these events. The authors explore the extent to which these emergencies permanently altered the political, cultural, and organizational life of the country and consider whether the nation is now better prepared to withstand another potentially devastating attack. This well-reasoned and well-researched book presents compelling evidence that few with hands-on experience with disease and emergency preparedness believe that an adequate response to terrorism—whether biological, chemical, or radiological—is possible without a strong and vibrant infrastructure to provide everyday services as well as emergency responses. Are We Ready? begins with an examination of the experiences of local New York officials who were the first responders to 9/11 and follows them as events unfolded and as state and national authorities arrived. It goes on to analyze how various states dealt with changing federal funding for a variety of public health services. Using oral histories of CDC and other federal officials, the book then focuses on the federal reaction to 9/11 and anthrax. What emerges is a picture of dedicated public servants who were overcome by the emotions of the moment yet who were able to react in ways that significantly reduced the public anxiety and public health threat. Despite the extraordinary opportunity to revitalize and reinvigorate the nation’s public health infrastructure, the growing federal and state budget deficits, the refocusing of national attention on the war in Iraq, and the passage of time all combined to undermine many of the needed reforms to the nation’s public health defenses. Copub: Milbank Memorial Fund

During the Depression, silicosis, an industrial lung disease, emerged as a national social crisis. Experts estimated that hundreds of thousands of workers were at risk of disease, disability, and death by inhaling silica in mines, foundries, and quarries. By the 1950s, however, silicosis was nearly forgotten by the media and health professionals. Asking what makes a health threat a public issue, David Rosner and Gerald Markowitz examine how a culture defines disease and how disease itself is understood at different moments in history. They also explore the interlocking relationships of public health, labor, business, and government to discuss who should assume responsibility for occupational disease. Back Cover “If there is a paradigmatic tale of occupational health . . . Deadly Dust is it.” —James L. Weeks, Science “Rosner and Markowitz have produced a carefully crafted history of the rise and fall of this occupational disease, focusing especially on the political forces behind changing disease definitions. . . Deadly Dust comes as a fresh breeze into one of the more stuffy and too often ignored alleys of medical history.” —Robert N. Proctor, The Journal of the American Medical Association “A thought-provoking, densely referenced, uncompromising history. . . Like all good history, it challenges our basic assumptions about how the world is ordered and offers both factual information and a conceptual framework for rethinking what we ‘know’.” —Rosemary K. Sokas, The New England Journal of Medicine Back Cover continued “Deadly Dust raises an important methodological problem that has long gone underarticulated in medical historical circles: how can social historians of medicine offer political or economic explanations for the scientific efforts of their professional subjects without losing a grip on the biological aspects of disease?” —Christopher Sellers, The Journal of the History of Medicine "A sophisticated understanding of how class and conflict shape social, economic, political, and intellectual change underlies this first attempt at a history of occupational health spanning the twentieth century." —Claudia Clark, The Journal of American History%; FONT-FAMILY: Arial" "This volume is well worth reading as a significant contribution to American social history." —Charles O. Jackson, The American Historical Review David Rosner is Distinguished Professor of History and Sociomedical Sciences, and Director of the Center for the History and Ethics of Public Health, Columbia University. Gerald Markowitz is Professor of History at John Jay College of Criminal Justice of the City University of New York.

The first in a two-volume anthology of primary, secondary and visual sources, this reader provides a broad introduction to the evolution of World Civilizations from ancient history to 1700, and gives students insight into how historians use and interpret evidence in an effort to broaden their understanding of civilizations around the world. A wide selection of documents, images, maps and charts is presented along with chapter-opening timelines, source introductions, points for consideration, and questions designed to clarify the material and stimulate discussion. The reader is organized chronologically, but also provides an alternate topical Table of Contents, which allows instructors and students to compare sources across cultures and time periods. A new feature to this edition, "Using This Book," assists students in fully analyzing sources and context.