Product Description

The story of blood is a story of transformation, divided into three eras. The first period, from antiquity to the early twentieth century, involves the transformation of blood from a magical substance - the blood of Christ as holy sacrament - to a component of human anatomy, capable of being studied and turned into a source of healing. In the next era, which lasts until the end of the Second World War, the scientific curiosity of blood becomes a strategic material. We see medical scientists master the resource, learning the techniques of mass collections and storage, ironically aided in their research by the battlefield necessities of two world wars. In the final period, the global traffic in blood-products explodes, saving the lives of untold transfusion recipients and haemophiliacs, but resulting in some of the worst medical calamities western science has known.Is blood a gift of charity or a pharmaceutical product, no more precious than, say, penicillin? The way in which societies decide to answer this question will determine how we deal with this precious yet dangerous resource in the years to come.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #297685 in Books
• Published on: 2000-07-06
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 536 pages

Amazon.co.uk Review
Don't faint! Blood may be a highly charged substance, symbolic of our spirit and essential for life, but we can gain much from reflecting on its power over us. Science journalist Douglas Starr has examined the history of blood's medical uses, and his report is at once intellectually engaging and emotionally compelling. Blood: An Epic History of Medicine and Commerce covers the late 17th century to the present, detailing experiments with animal blood (one violent madman was briefly calmed by infused calf's blood), the long ban on transfusions, direct artery-to-vein suture between donor and recipient and today's global blood- banking industry. It's a great story that shows the long climb from great risk and heroism to relative safety.

Our greatest stumble during this climb--the AIDS crisis of the 1980s--is the meat of the book. How could it have happened? Why were so many people given contaminated blood products after clear warnings about the risks of infection? Starr is unafraid to name names and lay bare the political and financial decisions that condemned so many thousands of haemophiliacs and surgical patients to early deaths. Those who don't learn from the past are bound to repeat it; Starr aims to help us keep the blood off of our hands. --Rob Lightner, Amazon.com

Review
'Clear-eyed and wrought with superb attention to detail, this is first-class science writing, with a striking message' KIRKUS REVIEWS 'Gripping and well-written' SUNDAY TELEGRAPH 'A vivid account ... readable and engaging.' THE ECONOMIST 'This is an intriguing look at the impact of this business on lives at stake, both now and throughout history.' TEESIDE EVENING GAZETTE

SUNDAY TELEGRAPH
'Gripping and wellwritten'

Customer Reviews

An informative review of a vital industry
I've worked in the blood industry for almost 30 years, in the front trenches (hospital blood banks/transfusion services) and in the rear support areas (community blood centers, research institutions, and pharmaceutical/medical device manufacturers) in technical, sales, marketing and production management positions. For me, Starr's admirable volume works best during the first half, when the historical evolution of blood and blood product therapy from the 17th century up to the end of World War II is described. After that, it becomes repetitive of the excellent work previously authored by Randy Shilts, "And the Band Played On".

The hepatitis and AIDS crises of the late 20th century have revealed the various international and national elements of the blood industry to be conservative, cantankerous, shortsighted, jingoistic, sometimes lacking in social conscience, occasionally unethical, often self-serving to the point of greed, and with leaders of monumental egos. Sounds like any other human group endeavor to me. What else is new? Maybe an industry that provides wire clothes hangers might be more idealistic, but I doubt it. The bulk of the later chapters is "bad news". But then, to the author, who is a former newspaper reporter, the only news worth telling isn't good.

In any case, Starr has clearly done a mountain of research. I would highly recommend this book to anyone outside of the blood industry who wishes to understand the broad mechanics of collecting, preserving and distributing blood and blood products. I would also recommend it to a person such as myself, immersed in the day-to-day technology of getting blood to the patient, who has never been concerned much with the history of the art. It's a solid, informative description of an industry in constant change.

Exelent book well researched.
I have been infected with Hep C from contaminated treatment and I found this book a great help with the information within it. I and many other haemophiliacs in the UK have been denied the justice we now deserve but our government we believe are covering up the truth about the safty of blod products, I have found a great deal of information from this book but I would be only to pleased to hear from Douglas Starr himself and ask him if he could help to supply any documented evidence that could help us in our fight for justice from the British government. Or if anyone can help us to get to the bottom of this issue I and many other haemophiliacs would be only to greatfull.