Biological War: A Scenario
3699
Biological War: A Scenario
3699
Plt;bPgt;There is an invisible weapon among us. By the time you know you are a victim, it has turned you into a killer. A blistering new non-fiction thriller from the Baillie Gifford shortlisted author of Plt;iPgt;Nuclear War Plt;/iPgt;(200k copies sold). Plt;/bPgt; A lab accident, a bio-attack, a global pandemic, and the collapse of human society. In this essential new book, based on dozens of new interviews with experts with high-level political, governmental, medical, and military responsibility, Annie Jacobsen examines this very scenario.Plt;BRPgt;Plt;BRPgt;It would be only a matter of days before the infrastructure built to handle this gravest of situations would be in a battle for survival. The fallout: mass death, societal breakdown, widespread insurrection, anarchy, and a plague-ravaged wasteland that no longer resembles modern civilization.Plt;BRPgt;Plt;BRPgt;There is no mushroom cloud, no shock wave or blast. Instead, the scenario that could end the world as we know it begins with something so small and malicious, that when used for evil, only evil can result.Plt;BRPgt;Plt;BRPgt;This is what could happen; a roadmap to the hours, days, and weeks following the release of a biological agent, that serves as the most essential, forward-looking journalism in preparation for urgent societal upheaval.
Read this book. It is a better briefing on the problem than the one we received in Downing Street six years ago. -- James Phillips * Spectator *
Energetic, detailed and disturbing . . . an engrossing, plausible book * The Economist *
A persuasive and unnerving argument. * New Yorker *
Graphic and sobering . . . Jacobsen is back with another scenario that promises to be even more ghastly and perversely thrilling than [Nuclear War: A Scenario]. -- Killian Fox * Observer *
A scrupulously realistic book about the inconceivable…This is important work...Biological War is an indictment of the weapons programs that created our discomfiting reality, and of a leadership that has allowed it to continue. * New Yorker *
This book moves like a meteor… Biological War is a heavily researched book about contagious and potentially civilization-ending pathogens…That so many were willing to talk to her, and have their names affixed to this book, indicates the esteem in which she is held. * New York Times *
A compelling and deeply unsettling examination of how biological warfare could shape the next global catastrophe . . . Biological War is difficult to put down, but it is even harder to stop thinking about once finished. -- Hamish de Bretton-Gordon * Literary Review *
Horrifying . . . a good read -- Jacob Aron * New Scientist *
Biological War: A Scenario will scare your pants off, but in a deliciously readable fashion. * Boston Globe *
Details
ISBN13: 9781911742036
Format: Paperback / softback
Number of Pages: 432
Edition:
Publication Date: 04 Aug 2026
Publisher: Transworld Publishers Ltd
Publication City, Country: United Kingdom
Dimensions (cm): 23.4(H)x15.3(L)x3.2(W)506
Weight (gm): 506
Author Biography
Annie Jacobsen is the Plt;iPgt;Sunday TimesPlt;/iPgt; bestselling author of Plt;iPgt;Nuclear War: A Scenario, Plt;/iPgt;which was shortlisted for the Baillie Gifford Prize. A 2016 Pulitzer Prize finalist, her other books includePlt;iPgt; Operation PaperclipPlt;/iPgt;, Plt;iPgt;PhenomenaPlt;/iPgt; and Plt;iPgt;The PentagonP#39;s BrainPlt;/iPgt;, and have been translated into 26 languages. She also writes and produces TV, including Tom ClancyP#39;s Plt;iPgt;Jack RyanPlt;/iPgt;. A graduate of Princeton University, she lives in Los Angeles with her husband and their two sons.Reviews
Very effective . . . you might argue that her books on nuclear and biological warfare establish a new genre we might call New Fear Unlocked . . . all too credible . . . the author's timing is impeccable. * Sunday Times, Book of the Week *Read this book. It is a better briefing on the problem than the one we received in Downing Street six years ago. -- James Phillips * Spectator *
Energetic, detailed and disturbing . . . an engrossing, plausible book * The Economist *
A persuasive and unnerving argument. * New Yorker *
Graphic and sobering . . . Jacobsen is back with another scenario that promises to be even more ghastly and perversely thrilling than [Nuclear War: A Scenario]. -- Killian Fox * Observer *
A scrupulously realistic book about the inconceivable…This is important work...Biological War is an indictment of the weapons programs that created our discomfiting reality, and of a leadership that has allowed it to continue. * New Yorker *
This book moves like a meteor… Biological War is a heavily researched book about contagious and potentially civilization-ending pathogens…That so many were willing to talk to her, and have their names affixed to this book, indicates the esteem in which she is held. * New York Times *
A compelling and deeply unsettling examination of how biological warfare could shape the next global catastrophe . . . Biological War is difficult to put down, but it is even harder to stop thinking about once finished. -- Hamish de Bretton-Gordon * Literary Review *
Horrifying . . . a good read -- Jacob Aron * New Scientist *
Biological War: A Scenario will scare your pants off, but in a deliciously readable fashion. * Boston Globe *