If You Poison Us: Uranium and Native Americans
One of several recent publications that reveal the extent to which Americans were poisoned by radiation after World War II, this work describes mining on the Navajo reservation from the late 1940s and early 1950s and then pursues its consequences into the 1990s. Eichstaedt follows the miners' quest for truth and compensation for widespread radiation contamination. Routinely exposed to radiation far in excess of safe levels and never informed, the miners began dying from mining-related illness within a few years of working in the mines. After long and frustrating battles, Congress finally passed the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act in 1990. Eichstaedt offers a well-documented, emotional account of the plight of the Navajos that complements Stewart Udall's The Myths of August (LJ 5/15/94) and Carole Gallagher's American Ground Zero (LJ 4/15/93). Recom-mended.Randy Dykhuis, OHIONET, Columbus, OhioCopyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.