From Mandate Palestine to refugee camps in Jordan today, generations of Palestinians have been affected by the reach of the state into their everyday lives. Here Elise Young offers an analysis of the politics of state building in the Middle East, viewed through the lens of health. Young argues that gendered, raced and classed constructions of health, as evidenced in malaria eradication campaigns and the regularization of midwifery, are central to such state building processes. She draws on archival documents to uncover British medical administration and American involvement during the Mandate, and in-depth oral histories of Palestinian women refugees in Jordan. Making a powerful case for an alternative historiography of the region, this book will be invaluable for all those interested in Middle East history and politics, nationalism, gender, public health and refugees._x000D_ _x000D_ 'This book is important for the nuanced understanding it provides of the way in which changing definitions of health and health care systems in the period of modern nation state building were impacted by Western imperialism and colonialism. Young brings that process alive by bringing indigenous voices into her portrayal of a harrowing period in Palestine and Transjordan-especially for refugee midwifes.' - Elaine Hagopian, Professor Emerita of Sociology, Simmons College, Boston.