1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910451476403321

Autore

Girard Marion

Titolo

A strange and formidable weapon [[electronic resource] ] : British responses to World War I poison gas / / Marion Girard

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Lincoln, : University of Nebraska Press, 2008

ISBN

1-281-24145-8

9786611241452

0-8032-2205-X

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (294 p.)

Collana

Studies in war, society, and the military

Disciplina

940.4/0941

Soggetti

World War, 1914-1918 - Chemical warfare - Great Britain

Gases, Asphyxiating and poisonous - War use - Great Britain - History - 20th century

Electronic books.

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

Revision of the author's disseration (Ph. D.)--Yale University, 2002.

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Nota di contenuto

The political challenge : descent to atrocities? -- The army's experience : new weapons, new soldiers -- The scientific divide : chemists versus physicians -- Whose business is it? Dilemmas in the gas industry -- Gas as a symbol : visual images of chemical weapons in the popular press -- The reestablishment of the gas taboo and the public debate : will gas destroy the world?

Sommario/riassunto

The advent of poison gas in World War I shocked Britons at all levels of society, yet by the end of the conflict their nation was a leader in chemical warfare. Although never used on the home front, poison gas affected almost every segment of British society physically, mentally, or emotionally, proving to be an armament of total war. Through cartoons, military records, novels, treaties, and other sources, Marion Girard examines the varied ways different sectors of British society viewed chemical warfare, from the industrialists who promoted their toxic weapons while maintaining private contro