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Summary: Absolutely great book.
Review: I've ready many books on BW and found this to be the best out there today. It is both informative and interesting. I must read for anyone even remotely interested in the topic.
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Summary: Extremely Topical Book Post 9/11
Review: 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.
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Summary: Strong, grabby and highly relevant
Review: Plague Wars is as fresh as tomorrow's headlines and very relevant to the fact that we in the U.S. are suffering our first biological attacks. I read the book when it came out a year ago and its predictions are uncanny, Thoroughly researched and sober yet never less than fascinating. What a read...
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Summary: Strong stuff but fascinating.
Review: Plague Wars tells the truth about germ warfare, tells it the way it is with no holds barred. I thought it was fascinating and terryfing at the same time. I had no idea that the Russians were ready to use smallpox and the plague against us. The stuff about a possible attack on New York is rivetting. This is great material. There ought to be a movie.
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Summary: Good overview of non-US BW programs
Review: This book provides a brief history of modern biological warfare from its creation by Japanese Unit 731 during WWII through the BWC and Russia's subsequent violation of that treaty. Deals with the programs used by South Africa, Iraq, and others, giving a political background into the programs as well as the chronology. Includes the text of the biological weapons convention (BWC), as well as brief descriptions of some of the main bacteria, viruses and toxins employed in this form of warfare. Overall a good read for anyone looking for basic knowledge on the subject. For detail on the history of the US program, read "the Biology of Doom", and for the Russian program, "Biohazard" by Ken Alibek.
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Summary: Biological Terror, what they don't teach in school
Review: This is an eye-opening book. It pays a good deal of attention to detail, and also explains some of the things you may have heard about briefly on the news, and then heard no more about. The revelations of the Russian BW activity is especially frightening. Although some areas of the research are somewhat skeptical, and hard to believe, the facts are referenced, making research possible. This is a must read book, especially if you are in the medical field. The questions of a future BioWarfare attack is not "if", but "when and where" it will occur. It is an easy read, and hard to put down. Highly recommended.
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Summary: A bloody scary book
Review: 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.
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Summary: A compelling and informative introduction
Review: to a part of modern-day warfare that does not seem to get its proper consideration in light of the massive damage it can do, *Plague Wars* is a fine historical overview that does not get too bogged down in the textbook bio aspect of biological warfare, but rather concentrates on the more easily-appreciated facts of who (who has them, who is willing to use them) what (bio and chemical agents we're looking at), where (have they or could they be expected to be used) and how (what strategies, vectors, etc). I was impressed by the balanced tone of the book, which conveys the seriousness of the topic without tending toward sensationalism
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Summary: Plague Wars
Review: Tom Mangold and Jeff Goldberg have written a great book. From the fields of WW2 till the UNSCOM inspectors in Iraq, the curtains have been lifted on the horrific topic of biological weapons and their development. This book belongs on the same shelf as Laurie Garrett's "The Coming Plague"; only this is even more frightening. Where "The Coming Plague" details the natural occurance of viral outbreaks and bacterial infections- and the individuals involved with their containment, "Plague Wars" delves into humanity's dark attempts to harness these powers and apply them not to heal, but to kill. You need not be an expert in biology to understand this, and Mangold and Goldberg have a highly accessable writing style. The chapters vary from a journalistic perspective to factual story telling that uses the participant's own words whenever possible. The major topics of include the Cold War until the BWC of 1972, then the Soviet Union's disregard of that document, South Africa, Iraq and finally the future of BW. All of these areas are well researched and fascinating. The masterminds behind the programs of South Africa and the USSR will become names that you will not forget. These are some very bad people. One weak point is the reliance on "Confidential Interviews" as a source in the footnotes. This is explained in the begining as protecting sources that might otherwise be endangered. Still, it is frustrating. It is claimed by experts, quoted in this book, that a major biological attack on a large US city should be expected within 10 to 15 years. Considering the lack of preparation that is apparent in most cities, this is a very scary thought. For as you will learn, once a biological attack has been unleashed it is already too late. Reading this book has left me believing that what we need is to create a highly proficient BW team that can, if possible, stop an attack before it begins- going on the offensive rather than defensive. "Plague Wars" is an excellent work.
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Summary: Bio-Terrorism and the Media
Review: With the recent arrival of anthrax inthe United States there is growing concern about the threat of biological warfare. Media coverage, however, while voluminous has not often been thorough and thoughtful. In a single crisply written volume, Plague Wars provides the history, production techniques and germ-spreading strategies of the terrorists. The research is startling and the sourcing impeccable.
The book warns that it is very late in the game to start building a defense. It could take years, cost hundreds of millions, and even then immunization and wonder drugs may not be enough to save large urban populations. More distresing, biological organisms may be developed in the next ten or fifteen years against which there is no medical defense.
Toxic attacks more disastrous than the Black Death of the Middle Ages or AIDs in Africa may be ahead. Given the nation's current anxieties, the media's reluctance to deal with such grim prospects is understandable. But as citizens we must be informed to prepare for this challenge.. With virulence now a part of every day life, Plague Wars becomes mandatory reading for facing a terrorizing new reality.
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