Under the Radar

Ellen Leopold is the author of A Darker Ribbon: Breast Cancer, Women, and Their Doctors in the Twentieth Century, and coauthor of The World of Consumption. She has written on the subject of the politics of health care for The Nation, American Prospect, Women's Review of Books and the Chicago Tribune.

"Compelling prose renders Under the Radar a readable exploration of the connections between Cold War thinking, politics and institutions, and American medicine's efforts to manage cancer. This breadth of focus makes for a thought provoking book." (Times Higher Education) "Opens up a promising new era for postwar history of medical research policy, clinical experimentation, and bioethics." (Bulletin of the History of Medicine) "Under the Radar is well researched, provocative, and highly readable. This is a thoughtful work that deserves wide readership."(Journal of Health Politics, Policy and Law) "A wide-ranging and compelling analysis of the sometimes murky political, economic, and cultural forces behind [Irma Natanson's fate-and our own. Under the Radar provides insight and provides a timely reminder and warning to us all about the cancerous environment in which we live."(Journal of the History of Medicine) "This highly readable book, thoroughly contextualized in the era of the cold war, covers key material in understanding the scientific and military roles in the evolution of radiation therapy since mid century. This book makes a significant contribution to our understanding of radiation, cancer radiation therapies of mid-twentieth century, and medicine at the height of its paternalistic power." (Nursing History Review) "Under the Radar is a brilliantly researched, lucidly written book on a subject that is literally the life-and-death issue for twenty-first century America: Cancer treatment." - Edward Jay Epstein (author of The Big Picture: The New Logic of Money and Power in Hollywood) "...[a] well documented, informative expose of the relationship between Cold War politics and cancer research and treatment." (The Source: Breast Cancer Action Newsletter) "Leopold does for our understanding of radiation what Rachel Carson did for our understanding of the indiscriminate use of chemicals in our society. The consequences are equally stunning and disheartening. This book will change how you see the medical world." - Barbara A. Brenner (executive director, Breast Cancer Action) "Under the Radar: Cancer and the Cold War is a very well researched and presented documentation of the expansion of the Military-Industrial-Complex to include (perhaps unknowingly) the medical profession. It should be an eye-opener for the warriors, entrepreneurs, governors, and medical professionals-who are also the consumers of 'medicine' in this 21st century America." - Dr. Rosalie Bertell, Ph.D. (Member of the International Science Oversight Board) "Ellen Leopold's penetrating, many-layered account of how Cold War metaphors and priorities distorted the treatment of cancer is a bloodcurdling study in fear, cynicism, exploitation, and relentless propaganda. Her exposure of the conflation of political and economic ideology with medicine is thoroughly original and genuinely gripping." - Katherine Powers (Academic Matters)

• Double jeopardy: cancer and the "cure"The court considers informed consentThe rise of radioactive cobaltThe back story: "a little of the Buchenwald touch"Behind the fallout controversy: the public, the press, and conflicts of interestCancer and fallout: science by circumventionParadise lost: radiation enters the mainstreamSubdued by the system: cancer in the courts, compensation, and the changing concept of riskThe hidden assassin: the individual at faultExperiments by other means: clinical trials and the primacy of treatment over prevention