Order from a Major Online Bookstore
Ultimate Book Price Comparison Engine
Save Your Time And Money
| AnyBook4Less.com | Order from a Major Online Bookstore |
|
| Home | Store List | FAQ | Contact Us | | ||
| Ultimate Book Price Comparison Engine Save Your Time And Money |
||
 |
Title: Plague Wars : The Terrifying Reality of Biological Warfare by Tom Mangold, Jeff Goldberg ISBN: 0-312-26379-1 Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin Pub. Date: 17 April, 2001 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $15.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.5 (18 reviews)
Rating: 4
Summary: Extremely Topical Book Post 9/11
Comment: Plague Wars is a fascinating book that has become extremely topical in the wake of the terrorism that the US has been facing since September 11. The book is uneven, however, and certain sections are much stronger than others in the book.
The first third of the book is about the ex-Soviet and Russian programs and the information is very worrisome. The Russians created a massive biological warfare program that continues to threaten the lives of everyone in the world. Their efforts are so frightening both because of the size of their BW establishment, but also because of the artificial forms of viral agents they created for which there are no known antidotes. They spent fifty years using all of the strength of their scientific establishment to create the ultimate biological killing machines
The section about South Africa and Rhodesia was interesting since these regimes have used BW agents in the field against their enemies, but the detail is not as vivid as in the Russian section. The section on Iraq was much too short given the threat Iraq continues to pose to the West and especially given the Iraqi use of these agents against the Iranians and the Southern Shiites in Iraq as well as the gassing of the Kurds in the north of Iraq.
The most interesting sections in light of current events are about biological terrorism. The actions of the Japanese Aum Shiriko cult are evidence that the true risk of biological weapons is that they can be produced by well-financed groups rather than sovereign governments. Their failures in Japan are also evidence, however, of the difficulty of using BW agents in killing people and give us some comfort that doom is not around the corner. These chapters were obviously written prior to recent events, but chillingly predict what has come to pass in the US recently.
Rating: 4
Summary: A bloody scary book
Comment: This is, quite frankly, a frightening book. Not even so much as to what it details about the programs themselves, but what it says about the people who will use them. From accounts about the Japanese WW2 BW program, with members discussing, without a shred of remorse, performing live autopsies without anesthetic or analgesics to the recent uses of biological agents by Rhodesian and South African forces it shows that these dreadful weapons will be used, have been used, and will be a major problem for decades to come. My only complaint with the book is the rather sensationalistic writing style used, that occasionally renders the hard facts sounding more like tabloid journalism. This does a disservice to the wealth of factual material in the book.
Despite this, this is a very worthwhile read. Be warned, there are parts that will make you out-and-out angry at what people have done, and make you want them brought to justice and punishment.
Rating: 4
Summary: Easy to read & understand
Comment: By coincidence I was reading this book as the news about the death of Dr David Kelly became known. Dr Kelly features very prominently in this book, and its a pity that such a fine individual met such a tragic end. Tom Mangold's book pulls together an excellent story over the decades. Very easy to read and to understand. Would be nice to see a revised edition with more information about Iraq post-2001.
 |
Title: Biohazard: The Chilling True Story of the Largest Covert Biological Weapons Program in the World--Told from Inside by the Man Who Ran It by Stephen Handelman, Ken Alibek ISBN: 0385334966 Publisher: Delta Pub. Date: 11 April, 2000 List Price(USD): $14.95 |
 |
Title: Germs: Biological Weapons and America's Secret War by William Broad, Judith Miller, Stephen Engelberg ISBN: 0684871599 Publisher: Touchstone Books Pub. Date: 17 September, 2002 List Price(USD): $14.00 |
 |
Title: The Biology of Doom : America's Secret Germ Warfare Project by Ed Regis ISBN: 080505765X Publisher: Owl Books Pub. Date: 01 October, 2000 List Price(USD): $15.00 |
 |
Title: Living Terrors: What America Needs to Know to Survive the Coming Bioterrorist Catastrophe by John Schwartz, M.P.H. Michael T. Osterholm Phd. ISBN: 0385334818 Publisher: Delta Pub. Date: 09 October, 2001 List Price(USD): $13.95 |
 |
Title: The Demon in the Freezer by RICHARD PRESTON ISBN: 0345466632 Publisher: Fawcett Books Pub. Date: 26 August, 2003 List Price(USD): $7.99 |
Thank you for visiting www.AnyBook4Less.com and enjoy your savings!
Copyright� 2001-2021 Send your comments
