Quality Bioterrorism Books:
1) "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
Ken Alibek
shop.barnesandnoble.com
Synopsis:
For two decades, an elite team of Russian bioweaponeers secretly cultivated
biological weapons that cause anthrax, smallpox, and Ebola- related fevers.
The author, a former leader of Russia's germ warfare effort, provides an
insider's account of tests and leaks, lab accidents and deadly disasters,
KGB threats, and assassinations. The author joined Biopreparat in 1975 and
was deputy chief of the agency from 1988 to 1992. Since he defected to the
US in 1992, he has briefed US military intelligence and is now working in
biodefense. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR
From the Publisher:
Anthrax. Smallpox. Incurable and horrifying Ebola-related fevers. For two
decades, while a fearful world prepared for nuclear winter, an elite team
of Russian bioweaponeers began to till a new killing field: a bleak tract
sown with powerful seeds of mass destruction—by doctors who had committed
themselves to creating a biological Armageddon. Biohazard is the
never-before-told story of Russia's darkest, deadliest, and most closely
guarded Cold War secret.
No one knows more about Russia's astounding experiments with biowarfare
than Ken Alibek. Now the mastermind behind Russia's germ warfare effort
reveals two decades of shocking breakthroughs...how Moscow's leading
scientists actually reengineered hazardous microbes to make them even more
virulent...the secrets behind the discovery of an invisible, untraceable
new class of biological agents just right for use in political
assassinations...the startling story behind Russia's attempt to turn a
sample of the AIDS virus into the ultimate bioweapon. And in a chilling
work of real-world intrigue, Biohazard offers us all a rare glimpse into a
shadowy scientific underworld where doctors manufacture mass destruction,
where witnesses to errors are silenced forever, and where ground zero is
closer than we ever dared believe.
2) "Toxic Terror: Assessing Terrorist Use of Chemical and Biological
Weapons" by Dr. Jonathan B. Tucker
shop.barnesandnoble.com
From the Publisher:
Policymakers, scholars, and the news media have been alarmed by the
potential for chemical and biological weapons (CBW) terrorism, and the U.S.
Congress has allocated billions of dollars for counterterrorism and
"consequence management" programs. Driving these concerns are the global
spread of scientific knowledge and technology relevant to CBW terrorism and
the vulnerability of civilian populations to chemical and biological
attacks.
Notably lacking from the analysis, however, has been a careful assessment
of the terrorists themselves. What types of terrorist groups or individuals
are both capable of acquiring chemical and biological weapons and motivated
to use them, and for what purposes? Further, what types of toxic agents
would probably be produced, and how would they be delivered?
Answers to these questions would enable policymakers to prepare for the
most likely contingencies. To this end, Toxic Terror provides in-depth case
studies of twelve terrorist groups and individuals who, from 1946 to 1998,
allegedly acquired or employed CBW agents. The cases were researched from
primary sources, including court documents, interviews, and declassified
government files.
By comparing the twelve cases, the book identifies characteristic
motivations and patterns of behavior associated with CBW terrorism and
provides an empirical basis for prudent, cost-effective strategies of
prevention and response.
3) "Scourge: The Once and Future Threat of Smallpox" by Dr. Jonathan B.
Tucker
shop.barnesandnoble.com
From the Publisher:
"Smallpox, the only infectious disease to have been eradicated, was one of
the most terrifying of human scourges. It covered the skin with hideous,
painful boils, killed a third of its victims, and left the survivors
disfigured for life. In this riveting, often terrifying look at the history
of smallpox, Jonathan B. Tucker tells the story of this deadly disease, the
heroic efforts to eradicate it worldwide, and the looming dangers it still
poses today."--BOOK JACKET.
From the Critics:
From Library Journal:
A political scientist and an expert on bio-weapons analysis, Tucker
provides an engrossing look at the continuing debate over the destruction
of smallpox. The author uses numerous interviews with key players to look
at the political and social aspects of the disease. Although a brief
history of smallpox is included, the strength of the book lies in the
author's description of the process used to eradicate naturally occurring
smallpox. Equally valuable is the last section that considers the pros and
cons of destroying the laboratory stockpiles of the virus. Postponed
several times, the elimination of the remaining virus is now set for 2002.
Concern remains among experts that if smallpox were somehow reintroduced
into society, the public health system would not be able to contain the
disease. The potential viability of smallpox as a biological weapon is
covered in reasonable depth. Light on technical language, this accessible
book is highly recommended for all libraries. Tina Neville, Univ. of South
Florida at St. Petersburg Lib. Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.
From Kirkus Reviews:
Biological- and chemical-weapons expert Tucker offers a chilling account of
smallpox's history, eradication, and temporary reprieve from total
extinction, in virology labs in the US and Russia. Beginning with the
biological origins of smallpox, Tucker (Toxic Terror, not reviewed) traces
civilization's battle against this particularly disgusting disease. Noting
its profound effect on historic events, from Athens' defeat in the
Peloponnesian War to Cortez's subjugation of the Aztec empire, the author
goes on to document humankind's battles against it, leading up to the World
Health Organization's triumph of eradication in the 1960s and '70s. The
author spins an engaging tale of the gritty conquerors and accidents of
history that allowed smallpox to become a focus of global efforts, narrowly
beating out malaria as the scourge of choice for the international
community. From African deserts to Bangladeshi slums, untold thousands
worked to follow chains of infection and to inoculate in the most trying
conditions, many destroying their own health in the quest to break the back
of the disease. As told by Tucker, it's a stirring tale, equaled in
emotional impact only by horrifying saga of what happened after the WHO
Nairobi field office documented the world's last known smallpox case in
1978. "The Kremlin cynically viewed this triumph of international public
health as a military opportunity," he writes. The Soviets had incorporated
biological weapons research into their military agenda beginning in the
1930s, and it remained on their five-year plans through the 1991
dissolution of the USSR. Tucker's in-depth report on the tremendous
resources and scientific brainpower toiling away inmaximum-security Russian
labs is mightily compelling, and his command of the myriad international
political players and details is masterful. His vivid descriptions of the
disease's symptoms, revolting and riveting in equal measure, ensure that
only the most jaded reader could lay the book aside. A true-life tale of
heroes and villains, frighteningly real and marvelously told.
FROM THE BOOK:
Table of Contents
Acknowledgments
1 Monster on Death Row 1
2 Smallpox and Civilization 5
3 Dr. Jenner's Vaccine 23
4 Launching the Crusade 39
5 Global Eradication 61
6 Long Road to Zero 90
7 Realm of the Final Inch 119
8 The Soviet Betrayal 139
9 Stay of Execution 166
10 Washington Reconsiders 190
11 Decision in Geneva 209
12 The Unfinished Conquest 231
Source Notes 253
Author Interviews 273
Index 275 |
