Villainous Compounds: Chemical Weapons and the American Civil War
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | 4.13 (711 Votes) |
| Asin | : | 0809334305 |
| Format Type | : | paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 200 Pages |
| Publish Date | : | 2013-08-14 |
| Language | : | English |
DESCRIPTION:
Good (if a bit mad!) Chemistry and the Civil War George Bernard Shaw's oft-quoted lament, "In the arts of life man invents nothing; but in the arts of death he outdoes Nature herself, and produces by chemistry and machinery all the slaughter of plague, pestilence, and famine," is brought to life in Guy Hasegawa's Villainous Compounds. This book has all the qualities that mark his scholarship: an interesting subject, engaging writing, and - especially - impeccable research. Indeed, the Bibliography alone is worth the price of this book; readers will be impressed with the breadth of the author's r. "In Guy Hasegawa's excellent book, Villainous Compounds" according to Johnnie P. The American Civil War produced a number of firsts: Iron Clad war ships, use of photography on the battlefield, and the use of telegraph to communicate on the battlefield, to name just a few of the many firsts. In Guy Hasegawa's excellent book, Villainous Compounds: Chemical Weapons & the American Civil War, the reader is introduced to, for the first time in historical literature, examples of chemical weapons and chemical delivery systems that would not be seen until the Great War (WW1). His use of primary sources, newspapers, correspondence from
They and numerous ordinary citizens proposed a host of chemical weapons, from liquid chlorine in artillery shells to cayenne pepper solution sprayed from fire engines. Hasegawa reveals in this fascinating study, numerous chemical agents were proposed during the Civil War era. Especially timely with today’s increased chemical threats from terrorists and the alleged use of chemical agents in the Syrian Civil War, Villainous Compounds: Chemical Weapons and the American Civil War reveals the seldom-explored chemical side of Civil War armaments and illuminates an underappreciated stage in the origins of modern chemical warfare.. Nevertheless, many of the proposed armaments presaged the widespread use of chemical weapons in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Especially timely with today’s increased chemical threats from terrorists and the alleged use of chemical agents in the Syrian Civil War, Villainous Compounds: Chemical Weapons and the American Civil War expands the history of chemical warfare and exposes a disturbing new facet of the Civil War. In chilling detail, Hasegawa describes the weapons proposed and prepared for use during the war and introduces the people behind the concepts. Nevertheless, many of the proposed armaments presaged the widespread use of chemical weapons in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. As he explains, bureaucrats in the w
The war unleashed some unconventional—even ‘mad’—genius among inventors, North and South, and Hasegawa describes it from ‘arsenic’ to ‘zinc.’”—James M. Schmidt, author of Galveston and the Civil War: An Island City in the Maelstrom “One need not have a scientific background to appreciate Hasegawa’s fine study of proposed chemical weapons during the Civil War. Indeed, the bibliography alone is worth the price of this book; readers will be impressed with the breadth of the author’s reliance on primary and period sources. Thank goodness government officials, North and South, ig