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

Ken Alibek (Author), Stephen Handelman (Author)

Book Description

Release date: April 11, 2000 | ISBN-10: 0385334966 | ISBN-13: 978-0385334969 | Edition: Reprint

Anthrax. Smallpox. Incurable and horrifying Ebola-related fevers. For two decades, while a fearful world prepared for nuclear winter, an elite team of Russian bioweaponeers began to till a new killing field: a bleak tract sown with powerful seeds of mass destruction--by doctors who had committed themselves to creating a biological Armageddon. Biohazard is the never-before-told story of Russia's darkest, deadliest, and most closely guarded Cold War secret.

No one knows more about Russia's astounding experiments with biowarfare than Ken Alibek. Now the mastermind behind Russia's germ warfare effort reveals two decades of shocking breakthroughs...how Moscow's leading scientists actually reengineered hazardous microbes to make them even more virulent...the secrets behind the discovery of an invisible, untraceable new class of biological agents just right for use in political assassinations...the startling story behind Russia's attempt to turn a sample of the AIDS virus into the ultimate bioweapon. And in a chilling work of real-world intrigue, Biohazard offers us all a rare glimpse into a shadowy scientific underworld where doctors manufacture mass destruction, where witnesses to errors are silenced forever, and where ground zero is closer than we ever dared believe.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

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. --John J. Miller --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Library Journal

Biological weapons in the former Soviet Union; where are they now?
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: Delta; Reprint edition (April 11, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0385334966
• ISBN-13: 978-0385334969
• Product Dimensions: 6.1 x 0.9 x 9.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (101 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #59,228 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #8 in Books > History > Military > Weapons & Warfare > Biological & Chemical
  • #91 in Books > Politics & Social Sciences > Politics & Government > Specific Topics > Terrorism

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

40 of 40 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars A Real Red Scare October 27, 2001

By Timothy Haugh TOP 1000 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

I had read this book a few years back when it first came out. Now that the issue of bioterrorism and biowarfare is a front page issue, I decided to give it another read. Though not as compelling as some books on the dangers of unchecked plagues devastating the world (Richard Preston's The Hot Zone is still one of the scariest books I've ever read--fact or fiction), it focuses specifically on the use of biological agents as weapons. In this respect, it is an eye-opener.

Alibek was one of the key leaders and scientists in the Soviet Union's biological weapons. Until he defected in 1992, little was know in this country about the extent of the Soviet program--a program that was supposed to be dismantled by treaty agreement in the early 1970's. Alibek made us aware of how advanced the Soviet program was. And he warns us that Russia still works on advancing their program despite claims to the contrary.

Certainly this is a frightening prospect, especially in light of recent events in this country. Though I do not personally consider Russia a threat, it is painfully clear that Russian technology is leaving Russia and falling into the hands of people who are not afraid to use it. One of the things I like most about Alibek's book is that he gives tremendous insight into the Russian mentality. How even he, as a high-level soldier in the Soviet military, was brainwashed into believing the United States had an extensive bioweapons program. (I am not naive enough to think our program is non-existent despite treaty agreements but it certainly does not compare to the Russian production machine.) Additionally, he points out that in the trying economic times of post-communist Russia, anything and everything is up for sale.

I am not easily made paranoid. I prefer knowledge and will not have my life altered by fear. Despite the current anthrax scare, I am not afraid to open my mail or travel to Manhattan. This book did not change any of that for me. If you are a worry-wart, however, I would suggest you stay away from this book. If you want to be aware of what's out there, I suggest you take a look at this interesting story.

25 of 25 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars We fiddle while Rome burns: A sobering expose of biowar June 10, 2001

By 9 Ravens

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

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.

28 of 29 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Gripping and spine-chilling! August 7, 2000

By greentaisa

Format:Paperback

If you read one book about biohazards/bioterrorism, make it this book! Dr Alibek does a superb job of presenting the terrifying facts concerning the extent of biological weapons of mass destruction that have been developed and are currently available to anyone looking for such a weapon. If you think stockpiling vaccines, vaccinating the military against specific agents, and/or there is no threat to the US from these weapons, you really need to digest the info provided here by an author "in the know". To make these facts even more frightening, think about this... I'm sure there are some things Dr Alibek could not include in this account as they are considered classified information. As Dr Alibek clearly shows, the R&D didn't stop just because the USSR collapsed. What horrors have been engineered and perfected since his defection in 1992?

When one thinks about it, the world was probably safer before the Soviet collapse. At least there were massive safeguards in place to provide ultimate secrecy to this program and to keep the organisms in check in case of accidents. Now, there measures have dissolved with the Soviet state..... who is controlling/maintaining these bioweapons? Dr Alibek makes you think about these very hard questions.

It is also very interesting to realize that both Yeltsin and Gorbachev were deeply involve in propogating these weapons under the guise of countermeasures/vacine development. All this was done with total disregard to the 1972 Bioweapon Treaty signed by the USSR. This certainly gives a new meaning to Peristroika!

It is not easy to like or even accept the choices the author made in his life. He is quite frank in how he came to his decisions and the realizes the abhorrent results of his decisions. He apologizes for none of his work which is understandable considering the mindset of the Cold War mentality of a Soviet official in his position. It is amazing to read the extent to which Soviet leaders went to elude Western detection and keep their own reseachers "propagandized" against the West in order to perpetuate this deadly research. I applaude Dr Alibek's candor in stating his involvement and forthright reasons for participation in this research even I am totally opposed to such work. The past is done...Dr Alibek has shown tremendous courage in writing this very readable account that warns the world of what is out there and is a very real threat to all living thing. But, be forewarned... you may find the information presented here extremely disconcerting, creating more questions in your mind than the book has answered! This is a must read for everyone, but most especially for our civilian/military leaders!