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Rating: 
Summary: Recommended reading by nervegas.com
Review: The Nobel laureate Fritz Haber will always be remembered by Chemists for his process to make ammonium nitrate from the atmosphere through iron catalysis. When his son, the author, witnessed a protest in Germany at a meeting to honor his father for his achievements he was compelled to write this book.Fritz Haber is also thought of by many as the father of chemical warfare. Ludwig Haber offers insight into the personal life and beliefs of his father, while attempting to exhonorate his father for his role in CW. He ends up not being able to truly exhonorate him, but does offer a fatalistic opinion of his father's role as a patriotic proponent that ends up a pesimistic defeatist (in regards to CW). The Poisonous Cloud is a complex, richly detailed work on the history of CW in WWI. The author is an economic historian by profession, and his approach is refreshing. Detailed are the individual battles that CW was used in, it's gain in prominence by military commanders, the industrial aspects of weaponization, and various lesser known incidences of CW. The Poisonous Cloud is one of the best source books on CW in WWI I have ever read, and is derfinitely thought provoking. Through detailed analysis the author discussed the utility of CW, and concludes several findings that are difficult to refute. Particularly, the advantage CW made on the battlefield was at a disproportionate cost to industry at home that drew resources away from conventional weapons. Furthermore, he points out that unlike the tank and aircraft, after WWI there no unifying doctrine or tactical purpose was devised for CW.
Rating:
Summary: Recommended reading by nervegas.com
Review: The Nobel laureate Fritz Haber will always be remembered by Chemists for his process to make ammonium nitrate from the atmosphere through iron catalysis. When his son, the author, witnessed a protest in Germany at a meeting to honor his father for his achievements he was compelled to write this book. Fritz Haber is also thought of by many as the father of chemical warfare. Ludwig Haber offers insight into the personal life and beliefs of his father, while attempting to exhonorate his father for his role in CW. He ends up not being able to truly exhonorate him, but does offer a fatalistic opinion of his father's role as a patriotic proponent that ends up a pesimistic defeatist (in regards to CW). The Poisonous Cloud is a complex, richly detailed work on the history of CW in WWI. The author is an economic historian by profession, and his approach is refreshing. Detailed are the individual battles that CW was used in, it's gain in prominence by military commanders, the industrial aspects of weaponization, and various lesser known incidences of CW. The Poisonous Cloud is one of the best source books on CW in WWI I have ever read, and is derfinitely thought provoking. Through detailed analysis the author discussed the utility of CW, and concludes several findings that are difficult to refute. Particularly, the advantage CW made on the battlefield was at a disproportionate cost to industry at home that drew resources away from conventional weapons. Furthermore, he points out that unlike the tank and aircraft, after WWI there no unifying doctrine or tactical purpose was devised for CW.
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