Poison: A Double-Edged Civilizational Building Block: Volume I: Reexamining the History of Chemical and Biological Warfare (Antiquity to 1899)

Poison: A Double-edged Civilizational Building Block, Volume I: Reexamining the History of Chemical and Biological Warfare (Antiquity to 1899) traces the history of poison as a weapon of war, beginning at the dawn of modern humans to the 1899 Hague Peace Conference. The book analyzes the evolution of poison as a weapon, civilizations' confrontation with the dual-use nature of poison, and technological developments that enable and constrain the use of poison as a weapon. The threads intertwine at different stages in history, creating dynamic fields of tension between opportunity and prohibition of poison warfare, and between prohibition and technological progress. This strategy explains the ongoing ambivalence towards toxins and why the norm against poison warfare remained ambiguous. This book will be of interest to researchers and students interested in toxicology and chemical and biological warfare agents, as well as policymakers, military historians and those interested in scientific history.