Germs

Biological Weapons and America's Secret War

By: Judith Miller

Narrated by: Murphy Guyer

In this “engrossing, well-documented, and highly readable” (San Francisco Chronicle) New York Times bestseller, three veteran reporters draw on top sources inside and outside the U.S. government to reveal Washington's secret strategies for combating germ warfare and the deadly threat of biological and chemical weapons.

Today Americans have begun to grapple with two difficult truths: that there is no terrorist threat more horrifying—and less understood—than germ warfare, and that it would take very little to mount a devastating attack on American soil.

Featuring an inside look at how germ warfare has been waged throughout history and what form its future might take (and in whose hands), Germs reads like a gripping detective story told by fascinating key figures: American and Soviet medical specialists who once made germ weapons but now fight their spread, FBI agents who track Islamic radicals, the Iraqis who built Saddam Hussein's secret arsenal, spies who travel the world collecting lethal microbes, and scientists who see ominous developments on the horizon.

With clear scientific explanations and harrowing insights, Germs is a vivid, masterfully written—and timely—work of investigative journalism.©2001 Judith Miller, Stephen Engelberg, and William Broad, All Rights Reserved; (P)2001 Simon & Schuster Inc., AUDIOWORKS Is an Imprint of Simon & Schuster Audio Division, Simon & Schuster Inc.

Deep study of important topic

Where does Germs rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Near the top, but not at the top. It contained some truly fascinating case studies, but I ended up wishing there were more case studies and less policy discussion.

Any additional comments?

The overall lessons are really interesting and valuable, but at times there was too much detail about the behind-the-scenes movements that a person doesn't really need to know. One does end up learning how the US arrives at policies for different types of defense strategies, including this one. I am glad I listened to it - I just think a potential reader should know it's almost at an academic level, not just a popular one. That's fine with me, but not everyone would enjoy the depth.

Government programs & small scale terrorism.

Governments the world over keep "Demons in the Freezer" for "research.

All the while allowing for a horrible potentiality. Know your "neighbors".

This info is relevant to our pandemic

Given the current pandemic response of the government it is easy to see how this book is relevant. Too bad no one paid attention.

It's Judith Miller.

Is there anything you would change about this book?

I would have preferred a text more focused on current trends and historical facts and less focused on justifying anything any Bush Administration has ever done.

What was most disappointing about the authors’s story?

The fact that in the end, it's still an apologia for government paternalism.

A Foundation for Understanding the DoD’s Anthrax Strategy

Another book full of information I wish I had known before taking a series of Anthrax shots over the course of 14 years. This book was an easy read, full of history that flowed page after page, detailing the birth of the military’s controversial vaccine programs. The threat is one that nightmares are made of. The government’s efforts to develop a strategic defense and vaccine policy is food for more nightmares. Who gets the shot? How to get enough of the shots? What are the long term health ramifications from receiving the shot? All answers that still don’t really have good answers! Germs does a great job providing a foundation for understanding that I, again, wish I had known all those years ago.