A Biography of Polio: The Moth in the Iron Lung

Anna: I just finished this book last night and wow, what a fascinating yet tragic read. Maready takes us back to 1835 when the first cases of infantile paralysis appeared but were completely rare until the summer of 1894 when it struck with a vengeance. The number of cases escalated in different communities and with varying symptoms through the years, reaching a peak in the US in 1952 and fading out through 1957. Experiments with polio vaccines began in 1935, with a still completely ineffective and in many cases harmful version in 1955. The first live polio vaccine was not approved until 1963, when the polio outbreaks were already past. Corresponding with the rise in poliomyelitis cases was the use of Paris Green, Lead Arsenate, and DDT – all used to the extreme in an attempt to kill the gypsy moth which was a plague of Biblical proportions in Massachusetts, as well as the potato bug which was making its way eastward from central U.S. As polio cases were rising the cause was still unknown but suspected to be carried by flies or mosquitoes, so the application of pesticides increased even more. (Can you believe they would actually sprinkle DDT powder directly on children, animals, and...

United States on Dec 09, 2023

KaceyKacey: This book will blow your
socks off! No kidding. Easy read. Eye opening.

United States on Sep 28, 2023

J. Goetz: Very well written. I found myself stopping repeatedly to do web searches asking “is this true” and finding out that yes, that is true. Forrest has done a great job stitching those truths together.

United States on Aug 03, 2023

Randy: I stumbled upon a tweet from Forrest, read this book, and it has changed my life. Uncovering the truth behind the narrative that’s sold to us about Polio. It’s a true biography of Polio and a great short read.

It’s also inspiring. Self researched and self published ,then persevering through the grueling uncertainty and hours of finding nothing.

This book will challenge your worldview, buy it.

United States on Jun 08, 2023

J: Get. This. Book! It’s been an excellent history of not only polio but also the use of chemicals and the government’s (lack of) safety standards.

Regarding negative reviews... He does cover the polio vaccine, but not vaccines in general, so I don’t understand why people are calling him anti vax in the reviews. He isn’t a doctor, that is true, but you don’t have to go to medical school or get a history degree to be able to use primary sources and critical thinking to form hypotheses. He provides information and it is up to us to form our own opinions.

There is something for everybody in this bibliography of the horrible paralysis epidemics in America: history, medicine, politics, etc.

United States on Mar 11, 2023

bashful babe: I loved everything about the book which reads almost like an detective novel including the authors clever way of introducing us to a number of extremely interesting, highly significant but little publicised facts concerning the lead up to a major historical event. The book encourages us to look deeper into the topic of polio and its devastating effects on public health and to draw our own conclusions about its origins. Was polio a result of natural occurring pathogens , toxicity, accidents , ignorance, cover ups, conspiracy, coincidences or simply a mixture of all or any of these? On reading the first chapter of the book my initial reaction was ‘how come I didn’t know anything about this before? Suffice to say, I didn’t want to put this book down until I finished reading it.

United Kingdom on Mar 30, 2022

Rachel: I got through this book in 24 hours with a toddler and a baby so I'm very impressed with its readability, while still being incredibly informative and detailed.
It goes through the history of polio in chronological order of notable events and really helps the reader understand much of the pathology that historically is likely to have occurred based on evidence we now have. It also provides insight into past practices of cover ups and industry relationships being protected over the importance of human lives, something that we can still see happening to this day. A fascinating read.

Australia on Mar 16, 2022

Anthony William: Very well fleshed out history of the build up to the polio epidemic and how science struggled to identify its causes.

Canada on Aug 18, 2021

Donna Pihowich: This was an extremely interesting book, I found that the timing was perfect, in light of the situation the world is dealing with today and this
experimental vaccine the government is pushing on its people. Everyone should read this book and realize how vaccines are created and the reason for their creation. Lots of food for thought, after reading this, you can see the bigger picture of what they are really pushing on people that have not done their research into vaccines in general. A vaccine that didn’t need to be used once they found out what the cause of the paralysis was. Once the people of the world realize this virus was created in a lab, and the poison they are pushing on the brainwashed public, it will be far too late for many

Canada on Aug 09, 2021

Sergio: Livro faz uma revisão do momento antes, durante e após as epidemias de poliomielite. Pesquisando pontos obscuros do tema. Apresentando outros focos causais da lesão neurológica. Apresentando as vacinas para a polio seus testes pré clínicos e erros. A supressão dos efeitos adversos. Mais a introdução da ventilação mecânica.

Brazil on Aug 12, 2019