The Eleventh Plague
Subtitle: The Politics of Biological and Chemical Warfare
Publisher: W.H. Freeman & Company
Published: December 1996
Language: eng
Format: Hardcover
Number of pages: 284
ISBN-13: 9780716729501
Subjects: Chemical & biological weapons; International Relations - General; Chemical And Biological Warfare; Politics / Current Events; Science/Mathematics; Politics - Current Events; Iraq; International Relations; Military - Biological & Chemical Warfare; Biological warfare; Biological weapons; Chemical warfare; Disarmament
Description: The Eleventh Plague deals with a terrifying and compelling subject: biological and chemical warfare. Using historical and contemporary examples, Cole explains what biological and chemical weapons are, how they are developed and tested, and what their effects can be. He vividly describes the very real threat that Iraq would use chemical weapons in the Gulf War - real enough that every man, woman, and child in Israel had to wear a gas mask.

He also analyzes the possibility that the so-called Gulf War syndrome may have been due to biological or chemical weapons, a possibility that federal investigations have yet to confirm or disprove. Cole lucidly describes the wide range of possible responses to the threat of biological or chemical warfare. But every expert admits that absolute protection may be impossible. Materials can be easy to get, even easier to transport, and virtually impossible to trace.

The Eleventh Plague arms us with a frightening knowledge. What do recent political and technical developments suggest for the future? And how will we fight this increasingly ominous, deadly plague?