Biohazard: The Chilling True Story of the Largest Covert Biological Weapons Program in the World--Told from Inside by the Man Who Ran It

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Summary: Chilling
Review: "Biohazard" by Ken Alibek, is the gripping true story of his life as one of the Soviet Union's elite bioweaponeers. Alibek traces his assent through the Soviet biowarfare bureaucracy, from his early days as a young doctor to his defection to the United States. In between he lists a catalog of mankind's greatest scourges: anthrax, smallpox, plague and a host of lesser know agents, and how the Soviets worked to turn them into weapons of horrifying virulence.

Told in a largely chronological fashion (the exception being diversions into Soviet research prior to Alibek's career), "Biohazard" is more concerned with the "how" of the program than the "what". More specifically, Alibek largely restricts himself to the broad overview of the research, and focuses on the entire bioweapons establishment: where it was located, what it was capable of producing, who its directors were, etc. As such, anyone with a basic introduction to biology should be able to follow the narrative; however, some high school or introductory college biology would probably enhance one's understanding of just how appalling these weapons are.

Particularly disturbing were Alibek's discussions of efforts to produce "chimera" weapons; weapons that contain the complete genetic code of two diseases in one cell. A particularly awful weapon that may or may not have been developed was a combined smallpox/Ebola weapon that combined both diseases while sacrificing the virulence of neither. One need not be an expert to see that the consequences of such a weapon would be catastrophic.

Moreover, Alibek spends significant time towards the end of the book detailing the possibility for the rise of biowarfare programs in other countries. He lists Russia, India, Iraq, Iran, North Korea, South Korea, Libya and Cuba as almost certain participants in this deadly field, and argues strongly that the collapse of the Russian economy makes it almost certain that Russian scientists are selling their expertise to other countries. Written prior to 9/11, "Biohazard" is all the more disconcerting because of it.

I have one minor complaint about "Biohazard". Specifically, as I alluded to earlier, Alibek doesn't spend much time discussing the symptoms and impact of specific diseases. For instance, naturally occurring smallpox is (or was) about 30% fatal; but what would be the consequences of a release today into an unvaccinated populace? Moreover, how much more virulent was the Soviet engineered virus? I suppose that he may not have wanted to give specifics for fear of encouraging others, but the information is critical if one is to accurately assess the threat of bio-terrorism.

In this day and age, America's first line of defense is information. In "Biohazard" Ken Alibek has written a book that goes a long way towards dispelling our benign view of Russian weapons programs. Moreover, it reinforces the grave threat that rogue states, and by extension terrorists, with weapons of mass destruction pose in the 21st century. This is a book is well worth reading by anyone who wants to understand the potential pitfalls to peace and security in the decades to come.

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Summary: What we didn't know should scare us
Review: I have read many of the books out on bio-weapons and bio-terror, but this book truly was nerve wrecking, but also intriguing.

In this book, Ken details his life in the Soviet Union developing true Weapons of Mass Destruction. He gives detailed accounts of many of the programs that the USSR was working on, from the mutation of bacteria to the genetic engineering of virus's and their implementation into weapons. During the fall of the Soviet Union, Ken is able to give the details of the demise of his country and what it meant to the entire weapons program and how it has lead to the problems we have today.

Just as interesting, though, is Ken gives the reader insight into life in the Soviet Union. There are things that we know, such as food shortages and rationing, but the overall psyche of the public and the general mistrust of the west were truly interesting. It was an amazing study in sociology.

Anyone interested in Soviet Union or "germ warfare" would find this an amazing read. I would highly recommend it.

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Summary: Everyone should know this.
Review: When reading this book, remind yourself that things have moved on in 20 years.

Current day threat is far, far worse. Won't go into details, but the Cobra Event by Preston says why pretty well.

Rating:
Summary: An astonishing story!
Review: The Chilling True Story of the Largest Covert Biological Weapons Program in the World--Told from Inside by the Man Who Ran It!

In this fast-paced memoir, Ken Alibek combines cutting-edge science with the narrative techniques of a thriller to describe some of the most awful weapons imaginable. The result will remind readers of The Hot Zone, Richard Preston's smart bestseller about the Ebola virus. That book focuses on the dangers of a freak accident; Biohazard shows how disease can become a deliberate tool of war. Alibek, once a top scientist in the Soviet Union's biological weapons program, describes putting anthrax on a warhead and targeting a city on the other side of the world. "A hundred kilograms of anthrax spores would, in optimal atmospheric conditions, kill up to three million people in any of the densely populated metropolitan areas of the United States," he writes. "A single SS-18 [missile] could wipe out the population of a city as large as New York."

Chilling passages like these, plus discussions of proliferation and terrorism, make Biohazard a harrowing book, but it also has a human side. Alibek, who defected to the United States, describes the routine danger of his work: "A bioweapons lab leaves its mark on a person forever." An unending stream of vaccinations has destroyed his sense of smell, afflicted him with allergies, made it impossible to eat certain kinds of food, and "weakened my resistance to disease and probably shortened my life." But it didn't take away his ability to tell an astonishing story.

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Summary: We fiddle while Rome burns: A sobering expose of biowar
Review: Ken Alibek's *Biohazard* is shocking even to a seasoned observer of the strategic weapons scene. It exposes the terrible danger that US and other world leaders prefer we don't think about: the vulnerability of human populations to biological weapons, and their inability to do anything about it.

While Alibek is certainly telling the story from his perspective, the fact that Americans were ignorant of the extent of the KGB's bioweapons program is undeniable. After reading this book, I personally cannot see any defense against the inevitability of a large-scale bioattack, and our helplessness in the face of such an attack. Viruses respect no geographical boundaries.

In one especially horrifying sequence, the Biopreparat researchers are forced to witness a colleague's slow death from Marburg (a cousin of Ebola) as a result of accidental exposure. When the colleague finally dies, the researchers are ordered by the KGB to weaponize the virus in the man's bloodstream, since it is now considered more lethal after having been inside a human host.

The moral of the story: Never assume we really know what those governmental institutions are up to. Highly recommended.

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Summary: Informative. Believable. Not Pleasant.
Review: While the prose and presentation of the book's style is a bit clunky, the information contained within is crucial to understanding what may face us in the future.

An important expose of 'normal military operations' and the infrastructure of the bioweapons program within the former Soviet Union - operations that now have been or may be compromised.

This information is dated, but the technology, people who worked with the technology and the weapons themselves as described in this book may still be viable. 15 year old technology to make hundreds of kilos of anthrax a day is still very dangerous technology.

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Summary: Could this book be a hoax?
Review: I might be wrong but I think this book is an hoax. I do not doubt that the Soviets had a biowarfare program and that they were good at it. I also believe that the program has killed innocent people. I just don't believe Ken Alibek's story. The book is written for maximum shock, not for maximum information. It starts with the "in your face" dust jacket. The book is peppered with the "toxins du jour". Ebola, Botulism, Black Death (sounds more horrific than bubonic plague), Anthrax: if you can name it, it is in there. No time is wasted on little known toxins, uninformed people would not recognize them. The book feeds on fear and conspiracy: leaks, cover-up, secret weapons, misterious deaths. Look at the pictures carefully: people in uniforms, non-descript buildings, some old piece of machinery. There isn't a single detail linking them to a biological program. Russia was never short of people in impressive uniforms, it doesn't mean they were cooking mutant chimeric ebola viruses spewing Black Death. For all you know they were part of an army marching band. Same comment about the buildings: take any newsreel from Communist Russia and you'll see big, ugly, formal looking buildings. For all you know, that's where they were storing the medals for the marching bands. The only picture which shows "biowarfare paraphrenalia" (people in scary looking biosafety suits) comes from an exercise in New York. Anyone with a camera who happened to be there could have taken it. Of course, none of the horror stories can be proven or disproven, allowing the authors to say anything they want. How convenient.

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Summary: Cold War secret for the end of mankind
Review: I read this book for a research a paper for a graduate class - the paper now appears on Global Security . com under WMD, Library, 2002 listed as the Soviet Unions Bio-warfare Program. Read the paper first and then decide if you you need the book, Any one in the biological/military area of interest should have this book in their library. If terrorist's are to strike - I believe this is the means of how they will do it.

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Summary: Riveting, informative, and understandable
Review: Very well-written in plain language thanks to Steve Handelman, this is a quick read. It is educational without being pedantic, and covers a well-balanced gamut of subjects, including:

- the history of Soviet bio-weaponeering: the vast resources they (including Nobel Peace Prize laureate Mikhail Gorbachev) put into developing biological weapons in direct violation of the 1972 treaty and hiding it from the rest of the world, as well as from their own people;

- the evolution of pathogen manufacturing processes;

- the morality and justification (or lack thereof) of such weapons;

- interesting details about various pathogens and the diseases they cause;

- the dismal outlook for biodefense (sorry), with informative discussion of the shortcomings of vaccines, as well as the most promising possibilities;

- Alibek's personal involvement and ascension through the Soviet military and scientific community, and the internal power struggles that hampered the Soviet regime; and

- the truth --finally-- about the 1979 anthrax outbreak at Sverdlovsk, its exact cause, the elaborate KGB attempts at a cover up, and simple, common sense refutations of the "contaminated meat" story proffered by the Soviet oligarchy. The book tells how a well-meaning Boris Yeltsin (who was then the Communist party boss of Sverdlovsk) inadvertently worsened the epidemic by ordering an inexpert clean-up.

Straightforward explanations are given of viruses, the human immune system, cellular biology, and related topics. In the style of that most excellent author Jon Krakauer, this book occasionally makes a fascinating historical flashback; for instance, there are quick side bars on Edward Jenner and the history of immunology.

There are also some somber, one-sentence paragraphs that have the enormous weight of a British understatement. These gave me pause.

Names of people and places are given freely, and the book includes a good index. I learned a lot and feel thankful for every healthy day. The amazing thing is how little harm has been done considering what's possible! :-)

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Summary: That was years ago, how about today?
Review: This book reminds us of how crazy a nation could be in developing all sort of biological and chemical weapons to protect the country. Definitely, a must read for anyone! It keeps you alert that the world we live in is not that beautifull. The book described the biohazard program back in the cold war era, but who knows what it is now? I wonder whether the SARS outbreak was an accident from a covert Chinese bio-chemical research lab, much like the accident in Russia that was described in the book.