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Six-Legged Soldiers: Using Insects as Weapons of War
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About Six-Legged Soldiers: Using Insects As Weapons Of War
Product Description The emir of Bukhara used assassin bugs to eat away the flesh of his prisoners. General Ishii Shiro during World War II released hundreds of millions of infected insects across China, ultimately causing more deaths than the atomic bombs dropped on Japan. These are just two of many startling examples found in Six-legged Soldiers, a brilliant portrait of the many weirdly creative, truly frightening, and ultimately powerful ways in which insects have been used as weapons of war, terror, and torture. Beginning in prehistoric times and building toward a near and disturbing future, the reader is taken on a journey of innovation and depravity. Award-winning science writer Jeffrey A. Lockwood begins with the development of "bee bombs" in the ancient world and explores the role of insect-borne disease in changing the course of major battles, ranging from Napoleon's military campaigns to the trenches of World War I. He explores the horrific programs of insect warfare during World War II: airplanes dropping plague-infested fleas, facilities rearing tens of millions of hungry beetles to destroy crops, and prison camps staffed by doctors testing disease-carrying lice on inmates. The Cold War saw secret government operations involving the mass release of specially developed strains of mosquitoes on an unsuspecting American public--along with the alleged use of disease-carrying and crop-eating pests against North Korea and Cuba. Lockwood reveals how easy it would be to use of insects in warfare and terrorism today: In 1989, domestic ecoterrorists extorted government officials and wreaked economic and political havoc by threatening to release the notorious Medfly into California's crops. A remarkable story of human ingenuity--and brutality-- Six-Legged Soldiers is the first comprehensive look at the use of insects as weapons of war, from ancient times to the present day. Review " Six-Legged Soldiers is a fascinating account of the many ways that scientists and military strategists have used insects to torture, starve, and kill targets."-- ScienceNews " Six-Legged Soldiers is an excellent account of the affect arthropod-borne diseases have had on warfare...This book will inspire readers to understand...threats and prepare new methods to combat them."-- Nature "Both science and military history buffs will learn much from Lockwood, a self-described skeptic with a sense of humor."-- Publisher's Weekly "An infectious, haunting read."-- The Financial Times "Lockwood thoroughly and objectively assembles an engaging chronicle on a topic for which official documentation is often sparse and the opportunity for propaganda is rife."-- Science News "Highly Recommended."-- CHOICE "Lockwood...makes this history of entomological warfare morbidly entertaining...thanks to a lively writing style that ranges from the sardonic to the arch."-- BioScience Magazine About the Author Jeffrey A. Lockwood is Professor of Natural Sciences & Humanities at the University of Wyoming, where he teaches in the department of philosophy and in the MFA program in creative writing. An accomplished writer, his work has been included in the popular anthology Best American Science and Nature Writing, and he is winner of both a Pushcart Prize and the John Burroughs Award. He is the author of Grasshopper Dreaming: Reflections on Killing and Loving and Locust: The Devastating Rise and Mysterious Disappearance of the Insect that Shaped the American Frontier.
