“A fascinating and compelling account of the interconnection between Mao Zedong and the various campaigns to eradicate snail fever in China that illumines the recent history of public health in China and the history of political campaigns under radical Maoism. It promises to become essential reading for anyone interested in public health and large-scale public campaigns in China.”—Arthur Kleinman, coauthor of Deep China and A Passion for Society
"The PRC’s anti-schistosomiasis campaign has long been seen as one of the greatest achievements of Maoist mass mobilization. Through meticulous archival research, Gross has discovered the surprising reasons for the campaign’s ultimate success, along with eye-opening details about its numerous failures. Brilliantly linking elite Beijing politics to earthy rural realities, Farewell to the God of Plague forces us to rethink the roots of public health in China."—Ruth Rogaski, author of Hygienic Modernity: Meanings of Health and Disease in Treaty-Port China
"Farewell to the God of Plague explores socialist China's most celebrated public health campaign. This is not a triumphal story. The best-intentioned state plans go wildly awry, distorted by absolute poverty, competing cosmologies, and limited political vision. Readers will be sobered by the gaps between what rural people needed, what they wanted, and what they got. Miriam Gross's work deserves attention from anyone interested in public health, development, rural life, and a future less marked by suffering."—Gail Hershatter, Department of History, University of California, Santa Cruz
