Planet Earth

Modern arms have grown more refined, and the harm they do often arrives slowly and out of sight. The ruins and casualties of a conflict are easy to count. Much harder to measure are the knock-on effects: hunger, poverty, damaged land and water, and unrest that can outlast the fighting by years.

The question at the heart of this book is how we might account for those hidden costs, especially when governments spend enormous sums each year on military research. What do we actually know about where those programmes lead over the long term?

The author, Rosalie Bertell, was a scientist trained in epidemiology and a member of the Grey Nuns religious order. Her work in public health gives the book its practical focus on the human and environmental toll of war.