Landmines in War and Peace: from Their Origin to the Present Day by Mike Croll

Landmines in War and Peace: from Their Origin to the Present Day by Mike Croll

Landmines and their antecedents have been used on the battlefield from ancient times, through the world wars, to the modern conflicts in the developing world. Their use in the developing world caused tens of thousands of civilian casualties, and the resulting international outrage transformed rapidly into a highly effective global movement to ban landmines and a multi million dollar mine action business.This book describes how technology and military tactics defined landmine development and deployment, why they are such an effective weapon of war, and how an unlikely alliance of soldiers, peace activists, development workers and celebrities succeeded in banning the use of anti-personnel mines. Comparisons are made between the post WW2 clearance of around 100 million landmines in Europe and contemporary efforts to clear a similar number in the developing world. By 1947 Europe was largely mine free, yet after nearly 20 years and expenditure of $4 billion the landmine crisis in the developing world continues. The elusive search for the easy way to clear mines is described. Despite experiments with machines, airships, rats and explosive clearance methods, mine clearance remains a hazardous, labour intensive task undertaken by teams of deminers using metal detectors and needle-like probes.

Croll, Mike: - Mike Croll is an author and historian.

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9781844158416
ISBN 10	1844158411
Title	Landmines in War and Peace: from Their Origin to the Present Day
Author	Mike Croll
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Hardback
Publisher	Pen & Sword Books Ltd
Year published	2009-06-20
Number of pages	240
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.