Toxic - A History of Nerve Agents, From Nazi Germany to Putin’s Russia

Review by Nachiket Kondhalkar (November 29, 2021): Dan Kaszeta’s book Toxic - A History of Nerve Agents, From Nazi Germany to Putin’s Russia (Oxford University Press, London, 2021) traces the journey of nerve agents from their initial discovery in WW-II era Germany to their eventual spread around the world. The author explores their chronological development while deep-diving into specific chemical weapons programs on a topical basis.

Skripals’, Novichoks and Russia: Toxic Mystery Deepens amid Denial

The incident of poisoning of Sergei Skripal, a former Russian military intelligence official, and his daughter on March 4, 2018, in Salisbury, (United Kingdom) allegedly by the Russians have caught the attention of the world. Two months after the notorious incident, on May 18 Russian President Vladimir Putin said that ‘Sergei Skripal would be dead if military grade toxin was used’. With this remark, Putin pushed the investigations of the alleged use of nerve agent ‘Novichoks’ against Sergei Viktorovich Skripal and his daughter Yulia Skripal into complete disarray.

ANIMESH ROUL