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Résumé :
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Reflecting a de facto recognition of the qualitative difference between the dangers of chemical and biological weapons and the true mass destruction threatened by nuclear weapons, this encyclopedia on weapons of mass destruction treats each in separate volumes. Respectively edited by Croddy (an analyst with US Pacific Command, Pearl Harbor) and James J. Wirtz (national security affairs, US Naval Postgraduate School), the volumes on chemical and biological weapons and on nuclear weapons together present 500 alphabetical entries covering important terms, concepts, events, groups and individuals, specific physical substances, and other topics. The encyclopedia's perspective goes somewhat beyond the US, with a small minority of contributors hailing from India, the UK, Sweden, Canada, Norway, Australia, and South Africa. Coverage is relatively wide, including entries that aren't necessarily intuitive, such as the Catholic Church and nuclear war, the Union Carbide Bhopal disaster, yellow rain, and the television mini-series The Day After. Technical terms found in policy discussions on WMDs are explained in relatively jargon-free language. Each volume includes a general introduction and a chronology.
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