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Patrick Cockburn

The Broken Boy

The Broken Boy

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  • More about The Broken Boy

In this expanded edition of his widely praised book, journalist Patrick Cockburn examines his experience of contracting polio as a child in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, drawing striking parallels between the two crises. Cockburn was just six when he contracted polio in 1956, unaware of the outbreak in Cork City. The virus attacked his nervous system, leaving him paralyzed. The Broken Boy is a memoir, portrait, and story of the Cork epidemic, the last great polio epidemic worldwide.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 350 pages
Publication date: 07 July 2022
Publisher: OR Books


In this expanded edition of a widely praised book, now available for the first time in North America, renowned journalist Patrick Cockburn examines his experience of contracting polio as a child in the context of a new pandemic, that of COVID-19. The parallels between what happened 65 years ago and today's crisis are both striking and salutary.

Cockburn was just six when he woke up one day in the summer of 1956 with a headache and a sore throat. His parents, Claud and Patricia, had recently returned to Ireland, to their house in East Cork, careless of the fact that polio had broken out in Cork City. Patrick caught the disease and was taken to the fever hospital. The virus attacks the nerves of the brain and the spinal cord, leading to paralysis of the muscles. Patrick could no longer walk.

The Broken Boy is at once a memoir of Patrick Cockburn's own experience of polio, a portrait of his parents, both prominent radicals, and the story of the Cork epidemic, the last great polio epidemic in the world.


Dimension: 228 x 152 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781682192849

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