Weapons of Mass Destruction: An Encyclopedia of Worldwide Policy, Technology, and History [2 volumes]

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The first accessible reference to cover the history, context, current issues, and key concepts surrounding biological, chemical, and nuclear weapons. The United States has conducted some 900 atomic tests since 1945 and has stockpiled enough smallpox vaccine to inoculate most of the U.S. population. The topic of weapons of mass destruction is perhaps the most controversial subject of our time. Policy debates require understanding of key issues, concepts, and events. A collection of information on everything from aerosols to zones of peace, these two volumes cover historical background, technology, and strategic implications of biological, chemical, and nuclear weapons, thus providing facts, terms, and context needed to participate in contemporary policy debate. This encyclopedia is the only comprehensive reference dedicated to the three types of weapons of mass destruction. With over 500 entries arranged alphabetically, volume one covers biological and chemical weapons, while volume two focuses on nuclear weapons. Experts from eight countries cover issues related to these weapons, policies, strategies, technologies, delivery vehicles, arms control concepts, treaties, and key historical figures and locations. Entries are written to make difficult concepts easy to understand by cutting through military and scientific jargon. Students, lay readers, scientists, and government policy makers are provided with the broad range of information needed to place today's policy discussions in proper strategic or historical context.

Reviews

"The overall quality of this encyclopedia makes it a useful addition to WMD resource collections. Recommended. General readers; undergraduates." - Choice "High school, academic, and military libraries will find this attractively designed and superbly indexed set a major purchase that will likely get repeated use." - American Reference Books Annual "Weapons of Mass Destruction is a valuable resource that will fill a gap in most academic and public library reference collections." - Reference & User Services Quarterly

Author Bio

Eric A. Croddy is an analyst with U.S. Pacific Command, Pearl Harbor, HI, specializing in Northeast Asia and proliferation. James J. Wirtz, Ph.D., is professor and chair of the Department of National Security Affairs, Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, CA, and a senior fellow at the Center for International Security and Cooperation at Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA. Jeffrey A. Larsen, Ph.D., is a senior policy analyst with Science Applications International Corporation and president of Larsen Consulting Group, Colorado Springs, CO.