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| View Larger Image | The Anthrax Letters: A Medical Detective Story
by Leonard A. Cole
| | List Price: | $49.95 | | Price: | $32.97 | | You Save: | $16.98 (34%) |  | | Available: | In stock soon. Order now to get in line. First come, first served. | | | | | Sales Rank: | 481271 | | Studio: | Natl Academy of Science / Joseph Henry Pres | | | Binding: | Hardcover | | Number Of Pages: | 280 | | Publication Date: | October 01, 2003 | | Publisher: | Natl Academy of Science / Joseph Henry Pres |
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EDITORIAL REVIEWS |
Book Description
At 2:00am on October 2, 2001, Robert Stevens entered a hospital emergency room. He was feverish, nauseated, and barely conscious. Notations on his admitting chart indicate that he was "not oriented to person, place, or time." Perplexed by the sudden and especially severe onset of his symptoms, doctors ran a variety of tests. As armies of bacterial agents attacked and shut down every major organ in Bob Stevens's system, doctors quickly accumulated and analyzed medical data, fitting the pieces of this complicated puzzle together to arrive at a stunning diagnosis. Bob Stevens had anthrax -- and he was soon to become the first official bioterrorism fatality in America. Behind the panic and the politics that would quickly ensue there remained a key line of defense. For while the police and FBI frantically investigated a crime, there were other professionals at work, conducting their own painstaking inquiry -- medical and scientific detectives hot on the trail of deadly organisms deliberately set loose in the postal system. Modern heroes in a quickly changing world, the public health officials, physicians, researchers, and scientists who staff our hospitals, clinics, and laboratories will be among the first responders on the scene of any future biowarfare event. Conducting his own detective work, bioterrorism expert Leonard Cole has composed a fascinating account that gets right to the heart of all the noisy sound bytes and hysterical headlines. Cole is perhaps the only person outside law enforcement to have interviewed every one of the surviving inhalation-anthrax victims, along with the relatives, friends, and associates of those who died, as well as the public health officials, scientists, researchers, hospital workers, and treating physicians -- indeed, anyone who has something of value to add to the story. Speaking through their voices, the narrative reflects the tension and emotions stirred by the events from that fall in 2001. Fast paced and riveting, this minute-by-minute chronicle of the anthrax attacks recounts more than a history of recent current events; it uncovers the untold and perhaps even more important story of how scientists, doctors, and researchers perform life-saving work under intense pressure and public scrutiny. The Anthrax Letters is a spellbinding behind-the-scenes expose that amply demonstrates how vulnerable America and the world really were in 2001 -- and how critical scientific research promises to strengthen our ability to address the challenges we must meet in the future. |
CUSTOMER REVIEWS (Average Customer Rating: 4.5 based on 18 reviews)
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Not Perfect, But Maybe the Best Available Today 
"The Anthrax Letters" provides a good deal of background information on the Anthrax attacks of 2001, and perhaps until the culprit(s) are identified, this book may remain as the credible only work available. The book provides a great deal of information on both the victims and the professionals that treated them (maybe even too much?). I would have preferred a bit more on the science of the forensics used to try to track down the perpetrators (but in the author's defense, that may still be kept closely under wraps by the FBI). Would also have liked more information on the method, costs and procedures used to clean up the effected buildings. But the book is easy to read. Author does not subscribe to the lone disgruntled scientist theory and sees a possible link to Al-Queda.
November 20, 2006 | |
Real Life Horror Story
I was drawn into this book from page 1. An intriguing and scary look into just how deadly biological weapons are, and how easy it would be to release a deadly pathogen into a population. One cannot help but sympathize with the residents of this Ural town who were unfortunate enough to breathe in the deadly spores. It is also heartbreaking to read the effects felt by family and friends of the deceased as they mourned the untimely, sudden and unexplainable deaths of their loved ones.
But the most disturbing part of all is how the victims contracted the disease (though this is still up for debate) by just being in the wrong place at the wrong time, as the deadly pathogens were borne here and there by the wind. One victim happened to be out gardening while the invisible, deadly breeze swept by, while her neighbors who remained in their homes at that moment were unaffected. One comes away from reading this book with the realization of how fragile and precious life is, and how it can be ended by the vagaries of Fate.
Comparing this book with others written about Anthrax is inevitable, but this publication is written from the viewpoint of the author's occupation. As an added feature, one learns about the paranoia that still continues to exist in that part of the world, and the roundabout methods the writer sometimes had to employ to fully investigate this terrible event.
I give the book 4 stars because of its sometimes very academic approach, which may discourage some readers. But in this era when any country can obtain such dangerous and deadly microbes, each book on this subject is a must read in order to understand the seriousness of biological weapons and how easily this type of warfare can decimate a population.
December 28, 2005 | |
A lesson on the medical mysteries
This book was based on the mysterious medical cases of anthrax that occurred through the mail during the year of 2001. Author Leonard A. Cole takes the reader personally through the many accounts of the anthrax sicknesses that have been reported following the September 11, 2001 attacks on America.
After the first case of anthrax was discovered it would soon become obvious that these acts were of biowarfare towards our country. Cole educates you on the history and mannerisms of the anthrax bacteria. He describes how it forms, grows and infects the people who come in contact with it. He takes you inside the hospitals to the doctors that treated the suffering patients and into the homes of those who were left behind wondering what was wrong. The medications used to treat the victims and procedures they underwent are drawn out for the reader to see as well. Not only were the families of these victims left in the dark, but our nation as a whole was left shocked and fearful of what was happening during this time. Cole went inside the police cases and FBI findings in their attempts to try and catch the culprits of these offenses. They take you through the procedures they undertook in their endeavors to track down the source of the attacks. Desperately trying to discover the cause of these biohazard assaults and being able to diagnose them quickly enough to save lives, is the aspect of this novel that will keep you on the edge of your seat.
If you thought you knew all that had happened with the anthrax you will become surprisingly more aware of what really transpired after reading this book. As the author leads you from case to case of the reported diagnoses, the reader becomes more frightfully conscious of the bio-terrorism threats that our nation faced. It's fast moving pace and hard hitting facts keeps the reader's interest throughout the entirety of the book. Though at some points it can be slightly difficult to follow due to the medical terms and research discussed about anthrax, it is still a highly enjoyable read.
January 11, 2005 | |
Book Review for The Anthrax Letters
The Anthrax Letters is an elaborate chronicle of incidents our nation was exposed to when the horrifying bio-terrorism attacks were conducted by mail in the year 2001. It was only three weeks after September 11th occurred that a Florida man by the name of Bob Stevens died due to inhalation of anthrax. His death became the first to be caused by bio-terrorism in the United States. This book describes in-depth, the many lives anthrax affected and how it affected our nation as a whole. The measures that many doctors, scientists, policemen, etc... took to try and put a stop to such a terror are thoroughly acknowledged throughout this book.
The Anthrax Letters greatly portrayed the concerns about bio-terrorism as being seen from theory to a reality. This was a very scientific book and provides the viewer with a better understanding of the substance anthrax itself and the horrifying effects that it can have. This book was very informative and definitely keeps ones interest. Though at times it is scientifically hard to follow, and understand, it is still very enjoyable and well written. This book is highly recommended to anyone with an interest in the anthrax bio-terrorism attacks that so dolefully struck our nation during the year of 2001.
January 03, 2005 | |
Interesting and Informative
The Anthrax Letters by Leonard Cole is a detailed account of the events that took place when the nation was terrorized by the sudden cases and deaths caused by the highly destructive anthrax bacilli. On October 5, 2001, Bob Stevens, became the first confirmed bioterrorism fatality in the U.S. After him, four more people died because of this terror attack. This book was very informative and never left out any details. If you ever wanted to know anything about what happened in those weeks of terror, then this would be the book to pick.
When these attacks were happening, I was eighth grade, so I knew they had happened, but not really knowing what was going on. I didn't even know that five people had died from these attacks. This book was packed with information with what really happened and it gave me a new understanding to it. It was never uninteresting at any point and was always wanting to keep reading to know what was the next events that took place in those weeks.
One thing that I didn't like too much was the way the books order of events went. It kept skipping around a lot and for younger readers, it may have been hard to understand. Also, I found that there was a large amount of unneeded information that the book really could have done without and it would have been fine, like a background story to every person introduced in the novel. Overall, I enjoyed reading this book and it was a well written, information packed book. I recommend this book to anyone wanting to know the events that took place during the weeks of anthrax terror and this book will tell you who did what to try to control it and save the people infected with it. The book brings the terror from those weeks to real life and make you really feel like you know went on, which I think makes it a very well researched and written book.
January 03, 2005 | |
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