The Poisonous Cloud: Chemical Warfare in the First World War

by Ludwig Fritz Haber

The introduction of chemical warfare during the First World War was a major event in the history of military technology. It not only posed an unusual challenge to military thinking of the day, which was largely conventional and wholly unfamiliar with science; it also created a heated moral controversy surrounding the new weapon that did not discriminate between soldiers and civilians. This study, based on a previously unavailable range of archival material and statistical data, explores the military role of chemical warfare as well as its effects on people, industries and administration on both sides. The book also fully examines the complex issues raised by this new technology, which were debated endlessly between the wars and have led to recent agreements among the powers to curb their use of chemical or biological warfare. This study was planned in close cooperation with Sir Harold Hartley, who became head of British chemical warfare in 1918.

Genres: History, Science, War, World War I

430 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1986

About the author

The youngest son of Nobel laureate Fritz Haber, Ludwig Haber was educated in Germany and Switzerland before moving to Britain in 1934. He earned a B.Sc, a master's, and a doctorate at the London School of Economics, after which he worked for Imperial Chemical Industries and Esso until the early 1970s. After a period at the National Economic Development Office, he became Reader in Economic History at Surrey University in 1973, where he worked until his retirement.

Reviews

[Jeffrey Schnakenberg · Rating 5 out of 5]

Simply the best book ever written on poison gas during the Great War.