Leonard A. Cole was a well-known political scientist, though he spent his professional career as a licensed dentist. As a political scientist, Cole spent a good deal of his time becoming an expert in bioterrorism and terror medicine and he wrote a number of books on this topic and how to handle the situation when these happened. One example of his writing on these topics is The Anthrax Letters: A Medical Detective Story.
Take a step back to the time surrounding 9/11. We can all remember where we were when the planes hit the Twin Towers and everyone was in terror. Many wondered who would be crazy enough to do such a horrible task and we hugged our loved ones a little closer that night while the government worked to put a stop to the invisible force of terrorism
In the midst of all this, another horror started to show up; anthrax. Before long, many people were scared to open their mail each day, worried that doing so would put them at risk of coming into contact with anthrax, a deadly chemical. This menace was even more terrifying. We imagine that we would be able to recognize a terrorist and could do things to protect ourselves if one was nearby, but how could we protect ourselves from a microbe in the mail?
These are the topics that Leonard A. Cole dives into in his book The Anthrax Letters: A Medical Detective Story. While the police and the FBI were frantically investigating the crimes, many professionals were at work, doing their own research to figure out more about the anthrax virus, where it was coming from, and how others could be prepared for the worst if this did get out — including various wealth protection measures in case worst came to worst.
Cole was one of those conducting his own research into this phenomenon and what was going on at the time. In this book, Cole composed a series of stories that help us to get at the heart of all the noise that was going on, exploring the real stories and how people were handling the scare, without the noise of the media and the large headlines.
One thing that you will get to enjoy in this book is that Cole actually went and talked to all of the surviving inhalation-anthrax victims, along with the friends, associates of those who died. He is the only non-law enforcement professional to have these interviews, and he takes the time to discuss their stories in this book. In addition, There is information from public health officials, scientists, hospital workers, and anyone else who can add another layer to this interesting story.
Even if you lived through 9/11 and the anthrax scare, it is hard to know what went on behind the scenes, without the news media and the flashy headlines. The Anthrax Letters: A Medical Detective Story, provides a chronicle of what actually happened during this time, providing an in-depth look that you just can’t get anywhere else.…