- Paperback: 240 pages
- Publisher: Random House (2002)
- ISBN-10: 0965619664
- ISBN-13: 978-0965619660
- Product Dimensions: 22.9 x 15.2 x 2 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 933,022 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This is the 3rd book of what Richard Preston now refers to as his Dark Biology trilogy. He is undoubtedly one of the most informative writers on this topic, which certainly should be giving great cause for concern.
I would strongly recommend the other 2 books : The Hot Zone is a non-fictional account about Ebola; the 2nd the Cobra Event is a novel, all the more effective for the background knowledge he had acquired.
In this book Preston reverts back to the non-fiction genre to tell an upto date story about Anthrax (following the as yet unsolved incidents in the USA) and Smallpox (and the activities of the Russians in violation of International Treaty).
There are other books available that had already discussed Anthrax or and/or Smallpox, so some of the material I already knew, but the section that was news to me, and thus more fascinating, was the description about the Smallpox outbreak at Meschede Hospital in Germany in 1970.
If I have one criticism about Preston, it is that whilst he tries to show you the human side of what the participants were thinking at the time, he sometimes plays it to excess giving out superfluous information. This may be of use in a novel to create a sense of character, but in a non-fictional account, it isn't necessary. For example, instead of just saying he has lunch with one of his interviewees, you get the brand name of the beer that they drank (Molson). Elsewhere he describes meetings with others that they were drinking Glenmorangie & Linkwood Malt Whisky - at least he saved us from saying how old the Whisky was, or whether or not they had water with it.
Despite these Product Placement issues, he is an author to follow.
I would strongly recommend the other 2 books : The Hot Zone is a non-fictional account about Ebola; the 2nd the Cobra Event is a novel, all the more effective for the background knowledge he had acquired.
In this book Preston reverts back to the non-fiction genre to tell an upto date story about Anthrax (following the as yet unsolved incidents in the USA) and Smallpox (and the activities of the Russians in violation of International Treaty).
There are other books available that had already discussed Anthrax or and/or Smallpox, so some of the material I already knew, but the section that was news to me, and thus more fascinating, was the description about the Smallpox outbreak at Meschede Hospital in Germany in 1970.
If I have one criticism about Preston, it is that whilst he tries to show you the human side of what the participants were thinking at the time, he sometimes plays it to excess giving out superfluous information. This may be of use in a novel to create a sense of character, but in a non-fictional account, it isn't necessary. For example, instead of just saying he has lunch with one of his interviewees, you get the brand name of the beer that they drank (Molson). Elsewhere he describes meetings with others that they were drinking Glenmorangie & Linkwood Malt Whisky - at least he saved us from saying how old the Whisky was, or whether or not they had water with it.
Despite these Product Placement issues, he is an author to follow.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
T. S. Eliot's bleak vision of the future doesn't even begin to include the gloomy prognostications revealed in this book. That terrorists will either acquire or develop biological weapons capable of destroying all human life is not just a possibility, it's a probability, as Preston makes abundantly clear in this update on biological weapons development. This book is the ultimate wake-up call. Even if you want to sleep after reading this, you may not be able to.
Of the several biological weapons which have been under development in the past twenty-five years, smallpox is by far the most lethal and contagious, and irresponsible scientists have genetically engineered it in the past few years to make vaccination useless against it. Antidotes are unknown because humans are the only hosts for smallpox, and there is no way to run a test study of their efficacy. Preston points out, "It has taken the world twenty years to reach roughly fifty million cases of AIDS. [A single case of smallpox in an unprotected population] can reach that point in ten to twenty weeks."
A massive research and development program for weapons grade smallpox and plague, along with the MIRV missiles and warheads to deliver them abroad, continued, unknown and unmonitored, in the Soviet Union for twenty years after smallpox was officially eradicated in 1978. The whereabouts of the twenty tons of "hot," genetically altered smallpox are currently unknown. According to a defecting Russian scientist, even the Soviet researchers do not know where it went, but "they think it went to North Korea." Iran and Iraq are also believed to have "benefited" from this research and to have ongoing, active bioweapons research programs.
Preston's focus on the people who are actively fighting potential biological terrorism gives a human face to this frightening prospect, while his descriptions of the individuals who fought for their lives in the world's last cases of smallpox make the horror an all too vivid reality. His analysis of the anthrax outbreak in the U.S. last year, and the delivery systems which make possible such outbreaks of anthrax, Ebola, and plague are enlightening. Forcing the reader to acknowledge the reality of a new kind of war, one more lethal and uncontrollable than ever before in history, Preston illuminates the tenuous nature of human life in the twenty-first century. The tiniest of living organisms are capable of wiping out the entire human population of the world if they get into the hands of a madman. Mary Whipple
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I borrowed this book from my local library and will now be buying it! Iwas alternatly terrified and fascinated by the events and people in thisbook. It is very well written and provides an insight into the world ofbiological agents/germ warfare as well as the attempts to provide thehuman race with protection. Although this book is non-fiction I did findmyself wishing it was fiction - the thought that terrorists have access tosuch viruses and would be only too happy to use them is very scary. Iwould recommend this book to anyone (apart from children.) The author hasdone an excellent job with a scary subject and explains it all in a waywhich the layman can understand without being patronising.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
small pox
it wasn't really my cup of tea,it was our book club choice of the month.It did give food for thought about the anthrax virus etc . ever getting in the wrong hands.
Published on 23 Oct 2009 by D. J. Fisher
A nightmare explained
Richard Preston describes the nightmare of smallpox: the effects of the disease, the enormous efforts made by literally hundreds of thousands of people between 1965 and 1979 to... Read more
Published on 28 Aug 2006 by Linda Oskam
As good as The Hot Zone, next a work on Bird Flu?
Covers and confronts the reality and sensationalism surrounding deadly diseases Smallpox and Anthrax. Fast-paced, gripping account of science, our need for it and its effect. Read more
Published on 11 Jan 2006 by greenwise design
"The way the world ends, not with a bang but a whimper."
T. S. Eliot's bleak vision of the future doesn't even begin to include the gloomy prognostications revealed in this book. Read more
Published on 17 Oct 2005 by Mary Whipple
"The way the world ends, not with a bang but a whimper."
T. S. Eliot's bleak vision of the future doesn't even begin to include the gloomy prognostications revealed in this book. Read more
Published on 20 Sep 2005 by Mary Whipple
Excellent
After reading "The Hot Zone" by the same author I was prepared for some of the graphic descriptions in this book. Read more
Published on 22 Feb 2005 by Mr. Daniel W. Weinberg
Gripping Like the Hot Zone, But All About Smallpox
Written in the gripping style of “The Hot Zone,” Demon in the Freezer is mostly a story about smallpox, and what has happened to it. Read more
Published on 20 Oct 2003 by Imperial Topaz
Fascinating and terrifying!
In October of 2001, the United States came under its first biological attack, when a number of media members and political leaders began receiving letters containing specially... Read more
Published on 19 Feb 2003 by Kurt A. Johnson
The Subject Requires No Editorial
Richard Preston has written a worthwhile book that I find flawed. I recommend that anyone interested in this topic put this book on their list to read regarding the issues under... Read more
Published on 24 Nov 2002 by taking a rest
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