Brett Edwards Profile picture
May 16 15 tweets 4 min read Twitter logo Read on Twitter
I've got stuff to do. So obviously you are getting a thread on 19th and early 20th century biological weapon scifi this evening.
Most of these books are well over 100 years old. And yet, I still feel the need to say....
Let's start with La Guerre au vingtième siècle by Albert Robida (1883). Image
The book follows a protagonist wandering through an imagined future war. The writer opts for 1945. Bacteriological weapons are just one type or weapon system they pull from their head.
Image
ImageImageImage
Actually not bad my dude. Image
Other than the rather dapper steam punk outfit above (which reminds me of this actual kit from a couple of decades later) there are some other gems. Image
Oh year. There are also mediums. Psychic mediums.

They are the last thing you want after surviving 'concentrates and microbes of malignant fever, farcin, dysentery, measles, acute odontalgia and other diseases.'....

Or arreee theyyy? Image
If this has piqued your interest this, and other works are reviewed here :

tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.108…
Quite inexplicably. There is also actually quite a good list on wiki too.. en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biologica…
And I will add others here as I dig them up.
Listed in the links above is the classic short story from H. G. Wells. Which deals with those pesky 19th century anarchists

'The Stolen Bacillus' (1895)
encyclopedia.com/arts/encyclope…
You can read it in 15 minutes. It's a classic. If you haven't I really don't want to ruin the punchline.

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More from @bwiedwards

Mar 21, 2022
A bit of a slowdown on the Poisons and Pestilence Podcast front, because, well, life. But much to look forward to!
I have recorded an interview with the wonderful @bermicourt dealing with his experiences of British Army Chemical and Biological defence preperations in the advent of Operation Granby (Gulf War).
Image:iwm.org.uk/collections/it…
And, @RobertP48264217 and I have started putting together what promises to be a splendiforus special on his work on covert Polish CBW use against the Third Reich
tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.108…
Read 4 tweets
Mar 7, 2022
Podpickers. I am still wandering around the 15th century Americas. But in a few episodes time I plan to start the WW1 season. I need your help.
First of all. If there are any experts who want to contribute to the show do get in touch - in terms or reading suggestions or contributing to an episode.
Second. I was thinking I might do 2/3 general histories of CW 1914-1918 before doing a number of follow up episodes across the period. What core themes would you like me to look at in that second set of episodes.
Read 5 tweets
Mar 6, 2022
‘Despite Putin’s nuclear bluster, the use of biological weapons in Ukraine is much more likely’ telegraph.co.uk/global-health/…
What I find odd about this article is the short shrift given Riot control/incapacitants. Which feels a little odd, considering the type of policing /crowd control equipment which has been turning up in abandoned trucks.
To make clear, I haven't seen examples of gas masks for riot control units appearing in my feed. But rather, Russia may surely have considered deployment of tear gas against protestors as a possible scenario. And may have other agents in reserve for other operations.
Read 4 tweets
Mar 6, 2022
With the planned protests in Russia today, the Kremlin waffle factory will be on it's highest setting - expecting Russian diplomatic accounts to be pushing many strange accusations about CBRN.
I was going to put together a bingo card. But can't face it.
One postive: Maybe I have muted too many accounts, but there would appear to be far fewer folks willing to entertain these red-herrings on here than in previous years...
Read 4 tweets
Mar 1, 2022
As promised. And don't for a moment think it is significant that some one as senior is spouting this guff. It's entirely on form *gestures wildly at Syria and the Skripal incident *

Read 171 tweets
Feb 28, 2022
You will likely see wierd claims about offensive 'bio-labs' coming out of Moscow affiliated accounts.

It's nonsense written largely for domestic audiences - cribbed from RU propaganda playbook.

Will try and collate responses etc periodically over coming days below.
As the issue has once again come through an embassy, it its doing the rounds again today. And has become a rather odd talking point for some of the more spammy accounts.

There has been months /years of this nonsense, so folk are rediscovering previous iterations online
Read 23 tweets

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