As the Director General and Chief Executive of the Chemical and Biological Defense Establishment at Porton Down from 1984 to 1995, Pearson (international security, U. of Bradford, Britain) was directly involved in ensuring that the British armed forces were effectively protected against the threat that chemical or biological weapons might be used against them. He was also involved in some of the negotiations for international chemical and biological weapons conventions. He describes the four phases in the search for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq beginning in 1984 and continuing. One can only attribute his neglect of George Bush's search under his desk to national chauvinism. Annotation ©2006 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)