From Publishers Weekly
As Goliszek writes in this excellent book, people throughout history have used their fellow human beings for experimentation, most often in the name of military or financial domination. The author, a biology professor at North Carolina A & T State University, says unprecedented medical advances such as the Human Genome Project have put us on the brink of discoveries "that will make real the threat of population control, gene warfare, ethnic cleansing, or worse." The best way to ensure that the past is not repeated, Goliszek argues, is to document the truth about it in all its chilling detail, which he effectively accomplishes here. The book is a compendium of damning evidence that implicates first and foremost our own government, our doctors and corporations, and ultimately ourselves. The book features copious primary documentation, but it doesn't read like an evidentiary record. Goliszek is a riveting storyteller. He introduces readers to the terrifying but intriguing shadow worlds of chemical and biological engineering; CIA mind-control experiments; the American eugenics movement of the past and present; and ethnic weaponry tailored to the genetic specifications of the targeted race. A recurrent theme here is how often experimentation involves subjects who have not consented. The most unsettling chapter gives firsthand accounts by victims of Cold War CIA experiments on children: brainwashing and mind control using chemicals, radiation, hypnosis, electric shock, isolation and physical torture, all reportedly to create the perfect spy-assassin. In an era when "weapons of mass destruction" is the buzz word, this is a must read, a book that will keep you up at night wondering who the enemy really is.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Booklist
Lest we believe that biological warfare is a modern invention, biology professor Goliszek informs us that, as far back as the Crusades, it was common practice to catapult plague-ridden human cadavers into enemy fortresses. Cartloads of human feces similarly hurled at enemies were also once time-honored weapons that were restricted only recently by international agreements. These days, biological and chemical warfare tactics are, in theory, used only by unscrupulous enemies of freedom. Goliszek claims, however, that the U.S. government conducts certain officially unacknowledged and disavowed viral and chemical weapons tests. He also recounts grisly tales of experimentation on healthy humans throughout history, all of them conducted in the name of commendable scientific research. Alas, these horrors can't be relegated to the annals of history, though, for there is no lack of current scientific experimentation on humans--biological, chemical, and genetic. Appendixes backing up some of Goliszek's claims were not available for review, and while references are provided for each chapter, precise citations within those references aren't.
Donna ChavezCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
