Synopses & Reviews
From anthrax to botulism, from smallpox to Ebola, the threat of biological destruction is rapidly overtaking our collective fear of atomic weaponry. This riveting narrative traces America's own covert biological weapons program from its origins in World War II to its abrupt cancellation in 1969. In light of America's increasing surveillance and condemnation of foreign biological weapons programs, this exposé of America's own dangerous Cold War secret is both fascinating and shocking. The project, at its peak, employed 5,000 people and tested pathogens on 2,000 live human volunteers; conducted open-air tests on American soil; sprayed our cities with bacterial aerosols; and stockpiled millions of bacterial bombs for instant deployment. Yet, surprisingly, almost nothing has been published about this project until now. This is the first book to expose the true story of America's secret program to create biological weapons of mass destruction.
Review
"Ed Regis...suggests that if we all wind up dying of anthrax or Ebola, we have no one but our own sneaky, germ-growing government to blame."--
New York Magazine
"In a chilling tour de force of historical research Regis portrays hubris, evil, and paranoia among scientists and military leaders of the '40s and '50s, and offers stark evidence of the terrifyingly efficient utility of biological weapons."
--Laurie Garrett, author of The Coming Plague
About the Author
Ed Regis, Ph.D., is a former philosophy professor and has written for
Wired,
Discover, and
Science Digest. He is the author of four books, including
Who Got Einstein's Office?,
Great Mambo Chicken, and
The Transhuman Condition.