Kyle Harrison
to-read
The Social Transformation of American Medicine
The Social Transformation of American Medicine: The Rise of a Sovereign Profession and the Making of a Vast Industry
- Author
- Paul Starr
- Published
- 1982
- Pages
- 514
- Recommended
- Once
Why it’s on the list: Starr’s Pulitzer-winning history of how American medicine became both a sovereign profession and an industry — licensing, hospitals, insurance, and the politics that produced the present system.
Where I heard about it
- A reply to @WillManidis — named in answer to his question “what is the single best book you can read that will explain an entire industry?” in a thread on X, June 2025. The full set of replies lives on what is the single best book… (tweet).
Connections
- Paul Starr — Author.
- Healthcare — The industry the book explains.
- Institutions — How professional authority was constructed.
- Insurance — The financing layer the second half is about.
- what is the single best book… (tweet) — the thread this recommendation came from.