Book Note

William R. Clark. Bracing for Armageddon? The Science and Politics of Bioterrorism in America. New York: Oxford University Press, 2008. xiii + 211 pp. $21.95.

Reviewed by Julia Erdosy

William R. Clark approaches the subject of bioterrorism from several useful angles: a history of bioterrorism as it has been perpetrated, descriptions of different pathogens, an overview of steps already taken in the face of these threats, and finally, a discussion of what reasonable preparations we can make while facing the frustrating truth that “bioterrorism is a low-probability/high-consequence event.” Perhaps the most provocative element of Clark’s discussion concerns the legal and ethical dilemmas that both individuals and governments may encounter during an epidemic, whether spread by man or nature. Despite these concerns, Clark is determined to bring sense and perspective to an otherwise alarming subject. A book that manages to be at once fairly comprehensive in scope and accessible to the general public, Bracing for Armageddon should be of interest not only to those involved in science and policy, but also to those wanting to know the details of existing threats, and what is being done to thwart them.