Reviews
‘Set to be the standard text on “non-lethal” weapons, this book also highlights the threat to controls on weapons of mass destruction posed by weapons development at the other end of the spectrum.’
Dr Hans Blix, Chairman of the Weapons of Mass Destruction Commission
‘This scholarly and readable book offers an absorbing account of an area of weapons development where technology might advance rapidly. It deserves wide readership and should bring these disquieting developments to greater attention.’
Lord Martin Rees, President of the Royal Society; and Master of Trinity College, University of Cambridge, UK
‘This book, by one of the foremost experts in the field, provides a tremendous contribution. It is richly detailed, exhaustively researched, and beautifully written. It analyzes non-lethal weapons comprehensively, providing historical and contemporary exploration of the full range of applicable systems, in the US, UK, and around the world. It deserves careful attention by scholars, policy-makers, and the informed public.’
Professor David A. Koplow, Director of the Center for Applied Legal Studies, Georgetown University, USA
‘The pursuit of “non-lethals” may be a chimera, but its history provides plenty of evidence of the ingenuity of science in the service of governments concerned to achieve control of social unrest at home or political supremacy abroad without the excessive odium associated with more lethal force. Davison’s chronicle serves as a comprehensive record of many decades of this pursuit.’
The Lancet (follow link for the full review)
‘This is the definitive history and analysis of so-called non-lethal weapons. Neil Davison effectively demolishes the benign mask of these weapons as alternatives to deadly force, and points to the corrosive role of vested interest lobby groups, which have made these weapons popular. This authoritative guide highlights the threat posed by non-lethal weapons such as anaesthetic gas to the treaties covering chemical and biological weapons, a threat which has increased since 9/11 as forces in Iraq, especially, seek an alternative between shouting and shooting.’
New Scientist (follow link for the full review)
Underlying this simplistic (if noble) conjecture about harmless force is, however, a complex intersection of technological and ethical problems, ably illuminated in Neil Davison’s ‘Non-Lethal’ Weapons. Beyond canvassing such conundrums, this exhaustively researched book integrates complex and diffuse information into an accessible, coherent and chronological narrative of non-lethal weapons development.
Times Higher Education (follow link for the full review)
‘Neil Davison’s new book, ‘Non-Lethal’ Weapons, is an important contribution. It will not end the arguments, but it should raise the tone considerably. … Davison has been studying this area for many years and depth of scholarship is one of the book’s great strengths. … This is an important book. It will not go down well with the Pentagon’s Joint Non-Lethal Weapons Directorate, or at Taser International. But it should be compulsory reading to those involved in “non-lethal” weapons-buying, before being exposed to salesmen touting the latest less-lethal wonder-weapon. And it should also be compulsory reading for any journalist writing about those same wonder-weapons without looking at what they mean in practice.’
Wired.com (follow link for the full review)
