A Plague Upon Humanity: The Hidden History of Japan's Biological Warfare Program

From 1932 to 1945, in a quest to develop germ warfare capability for the military of Imperial Japan, hundreds of Japanese doctors, nurses, and scientists willingly participated in what was referred to at the time as "the secret of secrets." Under the initiative of an elite group known as Unit 731, thousands of Chinese men, women, and children were held captive and infected with virulent strains of anthrax, plague, cholera, and other epidemic and viral diseases. Soon entire Chinese villages were being hit with biological bombs. Even American POWs were targeted. In all more than 250,000 people were infected, and the vast majority died. Yet after the war, U.S. occupation forces under General Douglas MacArthur struck a deal that shielded these doctors from accountability. Controversial, alarming, and utterly compelling, A Plague upon Humanity draws on original research and new evidence to expose one of the most shameful chapters in human history.