Paralysed with Fear (PDF)

Gareth Williams is Professor of Medicine and former Dean of Faculty at the University of Bristol, UK. He has written or co-authored over 20 books, including the Textbook of Diabetes (BMA Book of the Year, 1997) and has contributed to more than 30 others, including the Oxford Textbook of Medicine. Inspired by the life of Edward Jenner, Gareth wrote Angel of Death: The Story of Smallpox, which was shortlisted for the Wellcome Trust Book Prize in 2010.

"As Williams's punchy book reveals, the history of polio is quite an extraordinary one." - The Guardian

"Williams is good on the terror [polio] inspired...and strongest of all is Williams's highly entertaining description of the poisonous rivalry between scientists... His tale of vendetta and bitterness reminds us that even medical heroes can be as jealous and petty as the rest of us." - The Times

"A splendid book, riveting from beginning to end a model of its kind." - Literary Review

"An absorbing new history of the disease personal accounts are woven through the story with consummate skill." - Times Higher Education

"This book is a compelling story of how human ingenuity, ruthless competition, money and science have played a key role in driving polio to the brink of extinction." - New Internationalist

"Williams has written a story about good and evil, successfully making poliovirus a villain in a gripping, multiact play His book should be read by anyone interested in science, medicine, history, and public health. And by anyone interested in an incredible story told by a great storyteller." - The Lancet

"An engaging narrative and critical commentary a great strength of the book is that all of the competing ideas are covered, giving the reader a wonderfully rich picture of 20th-century medicine in all its forms Paralysed With Fear can be recommended both as a wonderful biography of polio and a revealing story of the development of 20th-century medicine, warts and all." - BBC History

"Williams negotiates the hairpin bends of polio's history with aplomb a detailed, science-rich treatment." - Nature

"There is plenty of drama in the polio story, and Williams's skills as a writer come to the fore here he has mastered his material and is at his best in explaining why the science and therapeutics were good and bad, and why it has been possible to think about the global eradication of this awful disease