The History Of Landmines

"While public interest in landmines is recent, their use and that of their non-explosive predecessors has a history which spans 2,500 years. Mike Croll explains the development, employment and reactions to these weapons from the concealed spikes of antiquity to the electronically-fused systems of today." "The History of Landmines takes the reader from ancient Rome to the colonial wars and from the American Civil War to the Gulf War explaining why increasing numbers of these devices have been used and how they have become more sophisticated. The genesis of the present humanitarian crisis is fully described along with the problems of clearing landmines today."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved

“Masterfully researched . . . destined to become a classic study of one of the most horrific weapons ever utilized during the Civil War—landmines.” —Jonathan A. Noyalas, director, Shenandoah University’s McCormick Civil War Institute Despite all that has been published on the American Civil War, one aspect that has never received the in-depth attention it deserves is the widespread use of landmines across the Confederacy. These “infernal devices” dealt death and injury in nearly every Confederate state and influenced the course of the war. Kenneth R. Rutherford rectifies this oversight with America’s Buried History: Landmines in the Civil War, the first book devoted to a comprehensive analysis and history of the fascinating and important topic. Modern landmines were used for the first time in history on a widespread basis during the Civil War when the Confederacy, in desperate need of an innovative technology to overcome significant deficits in material and manpower, employed them. The first American to die from a victim-activated landmine was on the Virginia Peninsula in early 1862 during the siege of Yorktown. Their use set off explosive debates inside the Confederate government and within the ranks of the army over the ethics of using “weapons that wait.” As Confederate fortunes dimmed, leveraging low-cost weapons like landmines became acceptable and even desirable. Dr. Rutherford, who is known worldwide for his work in the landmine discipline, and who himself lost his legs to a mine in Africa, has written an important contribution to the literature on one of the most fundamental, contentious, and significant modern conventional weapons. “A MUST for military history buffs! A thrilling and chilling read.” —His Royal Highness Prince Mired Raad Al-Hussein, UN Special Envoy for Landmine Prohibition Treaty

"America's Buried History traces the development of landmines from their first use before the Civil War, to the early use of naval mines, through the establishment of the Confederacy's Army Torpedo Bureau, the world's first institution devoted to developing, producing, and fielding mines in warfare."--Provided by publisher,

10. The future of Landmines

A story of the development and proliferation of a weapon of terror, this work also tells of suffering and devastation, and a worldwide crusade to put an end to the curse of landmines forever. Drawing on a wide range of first-hand experiences, it looks at all sides of this controversial issue.

Land mines 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 land mines and a multi million dollar mine action business. This book describes how technology and military tactics defined land mine 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 antipersonnel mines. Comparisons are made between the post WW2 clearance of around 100 million land mines 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 land mine 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, labor-intensive task undertaken by teams of deminers using metal detectors and needle-like probes.

This book examines potential technologies for replacing antipersonnel landmines by 2006, the U.S. target date for signing an international treaty banning these weapons. Alternative Technologies to Replace Antipersonnel Landmines emphasizes the role that technology can play to allow certain weapons to be used more selectively, reducing the danger to uninvolved civilians while improving the effectiveness of the U.S. military. Landmines are an important weapon in the U.S. military's arsenal but the persistent variety can cause unintended casualties, to both civilians and friendly forces. New technologies could replace some, but not all, of the U.S. military's antipersonnel landmines by 2006. In the period following 2006, emerging technologies might eliminate the landmine totally, while retaining the necessary functionalities that today's mines provide to the military.