The Birth of the Pill

A Chicago Tribune 'Best Books of 2014'
A Washington Post '50 Notable Works of Nonfiction & Best Science Books 2014'
A Chicago Tribune 'Nonfiction Books to Gift 2014'
A Slate 'Best Books 2014: Staff Picks'
A Booklist '2014 Editor's Choice' & 'Top 10 Science and Health Books of 2014'
A St. Louis Post-Dispatch 'Best Books of 2014: Nonfiction'
The fascinating story of one of the most important scientific discoveries of the twentieth century.

We know it simply as "the pill," yet its genesis was anything but simple. Jonathan Eig's masterful narrative revolves around four principal characters: the fiery feminist Margaret Sanger, who was a champion of birth control in her campaign for the rights of women but neglected her own children in pursuit of free love; the beautiful Katharine McCormick, who owed her fortune to her wealthy husband, the son of the founder of International Harvester and a schizophrenic; the...