American Arsenal: A Century of Waging War
"Patrick Coffey sAmerican Arsenal: A Century of Waging Waroffers a brisk account of the development of key weapons and technologies, from poison gas to drones, in that arsenal. Many of his stories are fascinating, gruesome, even lurid, and some are largely unknown." --Los Angeles Review ofBooks"Coffey delivers an interesting book that introduces the general reader to a little-known perspective on military history."  --Publisher's WeeklyPraise for Patrick Coffey'sCathedrals of Science"Weaving together the lives of the leaders of modern chemistry, Coffey shows how fights over priority, backstabbing, cronyism, and grudges shaped the history of chemistry just as much as the actual discoveries. It is an effective antidote to the bromide that science is the work of selfless, Spock-like automatons."--Books and Culture"A gripping page-turning narrative that elegantly combines popular science with a serious history of science."--Chemistry World"This superbly crafted book traces the intertwined careers of scientific Titans whose work, despite human failings, created major parts of the conceptual edifice of modern physical science.   It is a grand saga, as illuminating for our era as the Canterbury Tales are for the age that erected great masonry cathedrals."--Dudley Herschbach, winner of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry"[Coffey's] book zeroes in on how the military has helped to transform America, from the growing pains of World War I up through today... impressive in its focus. With a 'behind-the-scenes' approach to many war-related and political topics and extensively researched... it brings fresh perspective and information to a topic that is sometimes overlooked. " --Tony Bandy,History Writing with Tony