Medical ApartheidMedical Apartheid
Score Modern
What it's about
Harriet Washington, a medical ethicist and journalist, tells the history of medical experimentation on Black Americans, from the colonial era to the present. She covers the surgeries performed without anesthesia on enslaved women, the theft of bodies for medical schools, the Tuskegee syphilis study, forced sterilizations, and unethical research that continued into recent decades. She also explains how that history has shaped many Black Americans' mistrust of medicine.
Why it's worth reading
It won the National Book Critics Circle Award for nonfiction. It's a groundbreaking, carefully documented history that's still essential to understanding American medicine.
You'll love it if you liked
The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer
The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness
Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and RedemptionGood to know
It's disturbing and sometimes graphic. It's long and detailed, and works well read in sections.
By the numbers
- Readers96 out of 100 · counts 42%
- Critics54 out of 100 · counts 34% (its stronger lane)
- Bestseller10 out of 100 · counts 14%
- Buzz0 out of 100 · counts 10%
Critics and Bestseller are two ways to earn a place: a book's stronger one counts more. Buzz rewards recent bestseller weeks and prizes, so older books start at zero. The parts combine into the Must-Read Score, shown on a scale where the best book we found scores 99 and the last book to make the ranking scores 50.
Where it ranks
- #61 of the 198 history books we rank
- #170 of the 1,573 modern books we rank
- #337 of the 2,816 books we rank
Why it made the list
Reads as
True story
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Quick answers
Is Medical Apartheid worth reading?
Yes. It won the National Book Critics Circle Award for nonfiction. It ranks #337 of the 2,816 books in our ranking, with a Must-Read Score of 80.9 (the best book we found scores 99).
What is Medical Apartheid about?
Harriet Washington, a medical ethicist and journalist, tells the history of medical experimentation on Black Americans, from the colonial era to the present. She covers the surgeries performed without anesthesia on enslaved women, the theft of bodies for medical schools, the Tuskegee syphilis study, forced sterilizations, and unethical research that continued into recent decades. She also explains how that history has shaped many Black Americans' mistrust of medicine.
How long does it take to read Medical Apartheid?
About 13 hours (501 pages), or about 4 weeks at 30 minutes a day.
What awards has Medical Apartheid won?
NBCC Award (Nonfiction) winner (2007).
What should I read after Medical Apartheid?
If you liked it, try The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer by Siddhartha Mukherjee, The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness by Michelle Alexander or Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption by Bryan Stevenson.