The Secret History of the War on Cancer by Devra Davis

Merits: Devra Davis, Ph.D., MPH, is Professor of Epidemiology and directs the Center for Environmental Oncology at the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute. She is also a member of the team awarded the Nobel Peace Prize of 2007 and acclaimed author of When Smoke Ran Like Water.

Material: This book lays bare the sinister charade of the ‘war on cancer’, an effort largely funded by industries with every incentive to impede efforts of prevention. While wearing the guise of Samaritan by sponsoring research to treat the disease, these companies have sabotaged major efforts to prevent it altogether. Big tobacco is one of the primary defendants of these accusations and Davis argues that their playbook for manufacturing doubt and favorable science is being employed to this day by asbestos and cell phone companies.

Grade: Black Jesus. This book attempts to force the uncomfortable acknowledgement that health efforts to fight cancer have been impeded for private gain. What are the chances that this behavior continues today in different industries that also profit, like big tobacco did, from public misperception and misinformation? According to this book, pretty good with evidence to boot.