Product Description

Covers the significant persons, places, agencies, organizations, conferences, conventions, treaties, and acts that have played a role in arms control and disarmament from the beginnings of recorded western history to present times. The introductory essay reviews where arms control has come from and where it is going through this period of global transition as well as how the definitions of the terms and the conduct of the field have developed and why arms control and disarmament remain both very much alive and relevant today and into the future. A list of acronyms and abbreviations, chronology, and comprehensive bibliography complement the dictionary entries of this unique reference.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1415298 in Books
• Published on: 2005-03
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 424 pages

From Booklist
This latest addition to the Historical Dictionaries of War, Revolution, and Civil Unrest series contains more than 1,000 key terms related to arms control and disarmament, including conferences, treaties, significant people, governmental and nongovernmental organizations, and weaponry. Each entry contains a brief description of the term, and most have cross-references.

Although the words arms control and disarmament are more modern terms, their underlying principles have been in use for centuries. An extensive chronology begins with 1100 B.C.E., the Israelite-Philistine Term of Peace (which limited Israel's use of iron), and ends with June 7-12, 2004, the first Russian Open Skies overflight of the U.S. A time line from 1945 through 2004 shows significant arms control and disarmament events and categorizes them as chemical/biological, conventional, testing, strategic, or other.

A long bibliography (approximately 100 pages) is organized by topic and also includes sections on journals and Web sites. Another helpful section of the volume is a list of acronyms and abbreviations. The introduction provides a good overview of arms control and disarmament throughout history and presents a case for continued relevance in today's world.

The authors, former U.S. Air Force pilots who have flown some of the weapons included in this dictionary, are very knowledgeable on this topic. One is senior editor of the U.S. Air Force's internal study of its air campaign in the war against terrorism, and the other is director of the U.S. Air Force Institute for National Security Studies at the Air Force Academy. Their intent was to produce a "useful desk reference for the policy practitioner" and "a useful reference tool for the researcher and student." As much of the formal literature in this field is technical, the authors have translated the terms into language understandable by the lay reader. This would be a good purchase for an academic or public library. kaye talley
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