Dirty Little Secrets: Military Information You're Not Supposed to Know

This sobering collection of informational nuggets about modern warfare provides basic facts (usually in single-paragraph format) about chemical-warfare potential in Third World countries, electronic warfare, the Asian arms race, reactive armor, combat microcomputers, the latest developments in lasers for military use--and almost 900 other topics. Culled from open sources, the book is also rich in trivia: 98% of CIA staff are ``nerds and buffs'' (technicians and academics); the Soviet Army has no basic-training period; federal pensions are still being paid to a dozen widows of Civil War veterans; articles on the benefits of masturbation appear in Soviet military journals. We also learn that more than a million people die every year from the direct and indirect effects of war; this handbook briefly covers the equipment and techniques available for mass and individual wartime slaughter. Dunnigan and Nofi are developers of war-game simulations. (Dec.)