Mass Vaccination

"Mass Vaccination comfortably establishes itself as the leading and indeed essential monograph on the history of vaccination in modern China; a much-needed contribution to the history of medicine that will undoubtedly become a textbook in our age of vaccine wars, but which by far surpasses the historiographical needs of the moment by delivering a nuanced and systematic history of mass vaccination in the world's most populous and increasingly powerful country."
― International Journal of Asian Studies

Mary Augusta Brazelton is University Lecturer in Global Studies of Science, Technology and Medicine at the Department of History and Philosophy of Science at the University of Cambridge.

Mass Vaccination comfortably establishes itself as the leading and indeed essential monograph on the history of vaccination in modern China; a much-needed contribution to the history of medicine that will undoubtedly become a textbook in our age of vaccine wars, but which by far surpasses the historiographical needs of the moment by delivering a nuanced and systematic history of mass vaccination in the world's most populous and increasingly powerful country.

Mary Augusta Brazelton's Mass Vaccination is intricately researched, comprehensive, persuasive, and a welcome addition to the recent scholarship on medical networks and governmental legitimacy in twentieth-century China. [T]he book's methodology, thematic intersections, and contemporary resonance can provide lessons to historians of other parts of the world.

Tina Phillips Johnson, stvincent.edu:

Scholars and students of modern Chinese history and especially 20th-century history of medicine will find this book essential as a platform for exploring the interconnectedness of global health systems and the importance of public health to governance and diplomacy.

At a time when, at least in the United States, mandatory immunizations are increasingly controversial, Mary Augusta Brazelton's monograph, Mass Vaccination: Citizens' Bodies and State Power in Modern China, is a timely and welcome contribution to studies of the history of medicine.

Daniel Asen, Rutgers University–Newark, author of Death in Beijing:

Well-written and impressively researched, Mass Vaccination will engage scholars of modern Chinese history, history of science and medicine, and global health. It also offers a unique perspective on the history of the PRC and the role of 'medical diplomacy' in its international engagements during the 1960s and '70s.

Sean Hsiang-Lin Lei, Academia Sinica, author of Neither Donkey nor Horse:

By challenging the conventional understanding of the celebrated 'Chinese model' of public health, Mass Vaccination succeeds brilliantly in revealing how the Chinese state developed a stunning capability to protect, as well as to control, life.