Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1052921 in Books
• Published on: 2006-04-12
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 320 pages

Synopsis
Sir Richard Packer, former Permanent Secretary at MAFF, presided over Britain's most momentous political and public health crisis of the late 20th Century - BSE. In this frank account of events, Packer details the facts of the outbreak, how government responded to the crisis and how the press contributed to widespread public panic. He reveals the awful truth about the lack of information about this new disease and how the decisions taken to protect public health were a combination of informed guesswork and sheer good fortune.

Customer Reviews

Insiders account of UK policy-making during BSE
This is another one of those books that is made all the more intriguing by the position formally occupied by the author - Packer was the permanent secretary at the Ministry for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food during a key period of the BSE epidemic.

Packer presents a number of very interesting arguments that successfully challenge many of the mass-media peddled axioms concerning BSE and provides a pretty sound summary of the history of the epidemic. The book reads very easily and I'd consider recommending it to anyone seeking a well-written overview, were it not for the high cover price.

Ultimately, this will be of particular interest to professionals in animal health or public health policy, veterinarians, farmers or others concerned in the meat trade. There is however, much to be gained for the intelligent lay reader intent on learning more about the UK Government's handling of one of the most costly and politically explosive issues of the last twenty years.