Defending the Indefensible
The Global Asbestos Industry and its Fight for Survival
Jock McCulloch and Geoffrey Tweedale
Reviews and Awards
Winner of the Wadsworth Prize in Business History 2009 awarded by the Business Archives Council
"...Fascinating and thoughtful study of the asbestos industry...I found McCulloch and Tweedale's account a valuable addition to an already large literature. By globalizing the asbestos story, the authors reveal the tactics that have protected the industry for decades from sustained, intense criticism, and they clarify the challenges that remain in defending the victims whose lives have been irreparably damaged and in protecting us all from the threat of future injuries by this industry." - Marc J. Stern, Business History
"Given all that has been written and said about asbestos over the past 30 years is there anything else worth knowing? Do we really need another book on asbestos? After reading Defending the Indefensible the emphatic answer I reached was yes. This book is a tour-de-force of informed and concerned scholarship." - Labour History
"[A] compelling book." - The Lancet, Volume 373, Issue 9660
"An important and particularly essential addition to the existing literature on asbestos; its history, usage and controversial values of benefit and disaster...Splendidly presented and annotated... This is a brilliant text which answers many startling new questions and asks a good many more." - RoSPA Occupational Safety and Health Journal