Germs : Biological Weapons and America's Secret War - Hardcover

Miller, Judith; Engelberg, Stephen; Broad, William

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0684871580 ISBN 13: 9780684871585

Publisher: Simon & Schuster, 2001

Synopsis

Three New York Times investigative reporters present a powerful and gripping account of germ weaponary around the globe, from the Soviet Union's biological weapon's program that contains an abundance of anthrax germs and other countries who are searching for the ultimate weapon to the United States' attempt to put an end to these efforts. 35,000 first printing.

About this title

Review

Three reporters from The New York Times survey the recent history of biological weapons and sound an alarm about the coming threat of the "poor man's hydrogen bomb." Germs begins ominously enough, recounting the chilling attack by the followers of the Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh in 1984 on the Dalles, Oregon--no one died, but nearly 1,000 were infected with a strain of salmonella that the cult had legally obtained, then cultured and distributed.

While the U.S. maintained an active "bugs and gas" program in the '50s and early '60s, bio-weapons were effectively pulled off this country's agenda in 1972 when countries around the world, led by the United States, forswore development of such weapons at the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention. The issue reemerged in the early '90s thanks to Saddam Hussein and revelations of the clandestine and massive buildup of bio-weapons in remote corners of the Soviet Union. The book's description of the Soviet program is horrific. At its peak the program employed thousands of scientists, developing bioengineered pathogens as well as producing hundreds of tons of plague, anthrax, and smallpox annually. The authors conclude that while a biological attack against the United States is not necessarily inevitable, the danger of bio-weapons is too real to be ignored. Well-researched and documented, this book will not disappoint readers looking for a reliable and sober resource on the topic. --Harry C. Edwards

About the Author

Judith Miller, a correspondent for The New York Times since 1977, has reported from throughout the world and concentrated on the Middle East and the former Soviet republics. Her most recent book is God Has Ninety-nine Names.

Edition details

• Publisher: Simon & Schuster
• Publication date: 2001
• ISBN 10: 0684871580
• ISBN 13: 9780684871585
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 384