Nexus - 0306 - New Times Magazine-pages

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REVIEWS _& s Oo oO SPIES: The Secret Agents Who iB : Changed the Course of History by Ernest Volkman THE WHITE DEATH Published by J. Wiley & Sons (1996), USA by Julian Cribb ISBN o4711 5403-2 (s/c) Published by Angus&Robertsor/ Price: AUD$28.95; NZD$39.95; HarperCollinsPublishers (1996), Australia STG£12.99; USD$16.95; CAN$23.95 ISBN 0-207-19041-0 (266pp p/b) Available: Aust—Dist. by Jacaranda Price: AUD$16.95; NZD$24.95 Wiley, ph (02) 805 1100; NZ—Jacaranda Available: Australia—Distributed by Wiley, ph (06) 355 1298; UK—J. Wiley, HarperCollins, PO Box 321, Pymble NSW __ ph 01243 779777; USA/Canada—John 2073, ph +61 (0)2 9952 5000, fax +61 Wiley & Sons, ph (212) 850 6000. (0)2 9952 5666 (orders outside A/asia, As journalist Emest Volkman reminds phone/fax for p&h quote); NZ—Dist. by us, espionage is among the oldest profes- HarperCollins, ph (09) 443 9401. sions in the world, but the 20th century One of the major public health concerns _has seen it become increasingly institu- today is the risk of animal diseases find- tionalised, and further compartmentalised ing their way across the species barrier with the establishment of the electronic into the human population. information age and its ongoing techno- In The White Death, award-winning logical ‘improvements’. Australian science writer and journalist In Spies, Volkman presents a pastiche of Julian Cribb delves into the issues sur- those ‘intelligence agents’ who have made rounding the origin of AIDS and con- their mark on world events this century— cludes that monkey experiments per- for better or worse, whatever side or sides formed over four decades ago could have _ they might have been on at the time—and inadvertently transferred a monkey virus inspired a thousand-and-one spy thrillers. to humans, with dire consequences. Volkman is objective in his approach to There is overwhelming evidence in the these individuals and the importance of vaccination literature to suggest that cont- _ their work, but he neither glamorises nor aminated monkey kidney tissue cultures glorifies—that would be irresponsible. have been used in the production of all Spies, he insists, are governed by three sorts of vaccines, including polio. Here, commandments: (1) Don't get caught; (2) Julian Cribb, by linking the African polio —_‘If you get caught, the agency has never vaccination campaign with the trail of heard of you; and (3) No other command- AIDS, postulates that these alien micro- ments are necessary. Unfortunately, the organisms could well have mutated once _reader is left wanting for more, as each introduced to human hosts. entry in Spies averages only a few pages, Cribb's thesis is a warning that new dis- _ and recent espionage dramas are excluded ease plagues will inevitably emerge which (probably for good reason). modern science will be at a loss to treat, regardless of their source. MARS/EARTH ENIGMA: A Sacred . Message to Mankind by DeAnna Emerson Published by Galde Press (1996), USA ISBN 1-880090-18-X (314pp s/c) Price: STG£18.50; USD$19.95 + p&h Available: UK—Gazelle Book Services, Lancaster, ph 01524 68765; USA— Adventures Unlimited, PO Box 74, Kempton, IL 60946, ph (815) 253 6390, fax (815) 253 6300. The mysterious Face and pyramidal structures on Mars, identified and enhanced from photographs taken by NASA's Viking Orbiter in 1976, have cap- tured our imagination and sparked calls for the space agency to be more open in the interests of scientific enquiry and the SPIES: The Secret Agents Who Changed the Course of History by Ernest Volkman Published by J. Wiley & Sons (1996), USA ISBN 0-471-15403-2 (s/c) Price: AUD$28.95; NZD$39.95; STG£12.99; USD$16.95; CAN$23.95 Available: Aust—Dist. by Jacaranda Wiley, ph (02) 805 1100; NZ—Jacaranda Wiley, ph (06) 355 1298; UK—}. Wiley, ph 01243 779777; USA/Canada—John Wiley & Sons, ph (212) 850 6000. As journalist Ernest Volkman reminds us, espionage is among the oldest profes- sions in the world, but the 20th century has seen it become increasingly institu- tionalised, and further compartmentalised with the establishment of the electronic information age and its ongoing techno- logical ‘improvements’. In Spies, Volkman presents a pastiche of those ‘intelligence agents’ who have made their mark on world events this century— for better or worse, whatever side or sides they might have been on at the time—and inspired a thousand-and-one spy thrillers. Volkman is objective in his approach to these individuals and the importance of their work, but he neither glamorises nor glorifies—that would be irresponsible. Spies, he insists, are governed by three commandments: (1) Don't get caught; (2) If you get caught, the agency has never heard of you; and (3) No other command- ments are necessary. Unfortunately, the reader is left wanting for more, as each entry in Spies averages only a few pages, and recent espionage dramas are excluded (probably for good reason). MARS/EARTH ENIGMA: A Sacred Message to Mankind by DeAnna Emerson Published by Galde Press (1996), USA ISBN 1-880090-18-X (314pp s/c) Price: STG£18.50; USD$19.95 + p&h Available: UK—Gazelle Book Services, Lancaster, ph 01524 68765; USA— Adventures Unlimited, PO Box 74, Kempton, IL 60946, ph (815) 253 6390, fax (815) 253 6300. The mysterious Face and pyramidal structures on Mars, identified and enhanced from photographs taken by NASA's Viking Orbiter in 1976, have cap- tured our imagination and sparked calls for the space agency to be more open in the interests of scientific enquiry and the 82 ¢ NEXUS OCTOBER - NOVEMBER 1996