Book cover for Until Proven Safe

Synopsis

Details

17 March 2022
416 pages
9781509867431
Imprint: Picador

Reviews

Reads like a global safari of humanity’s best-laid plans being never quite enough . . . [Manaugh and Twilley] are well-placed to tell the tale, weaving the spatial, social and scientific facets of medical isolation into an entertaining adventure.
A timely intellectual history of quarantine . . . As Manaugh and Twilley write, quarantine is enforced in cases of potential infection, of possible risk, and ­therefore admits a degree of uncertainty. One of the striking continuities in their history is how this uncertainty has been exploited to deepen gendered and racialised inequalities.
A compelling case that we must continue to refine the use of quarantine, balancing the needs of public health with those of human rights.
Until Proven Safe is not all doom and gloom, though: there are plenty of QI-style facts in this wide-ranging and colourful survey.