I thought the book had several strong points. There was a lot of data and all the text was well-supported. The tables were clear and made the data easy to understand. And I loved the photos at the end of the book. But the book had some major weaknesses. It reads like a history textbook, loaded with names, dates, and places. Anthony Cartwright only rarely lets us see his personal insights but from what I’ve read, I would have liked to have seen more. I think he had a lot to say but held back. I didn’t find the writing smooth; it didn’t flow and felt disjointed. And there was too much on smallpox and too much minutiae. I almost stopped reading but I was very happy that I didn’t. The rest of the book is concise, and covers many important areas. I rated the book four stars because of its importance, the amount of research done, and the pacing of the book post-smallpox. Thank you to Netgalley and Pen & Sword History for the advance reader copy.

Anthony C. Cartwright does a good job in balancing the history of vaccines and gives the research well.