Error loading page.
Try refreshing the page. If that doesn't work, there may be a network issue, and you can use our self test page to see what's preventing the page from loading.
Learn more about possible network issues or contact support for more help.
Title details for The Great Secret by Jennet Conant - Available

The Great Secret

The Classified World War II Disaster that Launched the War on Cancer

by Jennet Conant
John Kroft
Audiobook
55 of 55 copies available
Borrow Listen to a sample Listen to a sample
55 of 55 copies available
On the night of December 2, 1943, the Luftwaffe bombed a critical Allied port in Bari, Italy, sinking seventeen ships and killing over a thousand servicemen and hundreds of civilians. Caught in the surprise air raid was the John Harvey, an American Liberty ship carrying a top-secret cargo of 2,000 mustard bombs to be used in retaliation if the Germans resorted to gas warfare.
After young sailors began suddenly dying with mysterious symptoms, Lieutenant Colonel Stewart Alexander, a doctor and chemical weapons expert, was dispatched to investigate. He quickly diagnosed mustard gas exposure, worked in concert to suppress. But Alexander heroically persevered in his investigation. His breakthrough observations about the toxic effects of mustard on white blood cells caught the attention of Colonel Cornelius P. Rhoads—a pioneering research scientist—who recognized that the poison was both a killer and a cure, and was instrumental in ushering in a new era of cancer research.
The Great Secret is a remarkable story of how horrific tragedy gave birth to medical triumph.

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Release date

    September 1, 2021

  • Formats

    • OverDrive Listen audiobook

      • ISBN: 9781004049516
      • File size: 342594 KB
      • Duration: 11:53:44

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • Publisher's Weekly

      June 22, 2020
      Historian Conant (Man of the Hour) reveals the surprising links between chemotherapy and chemical weapons in this well-researched and engrossing account. The American Liberty ship John Harvey was carrying a secret cargo of 2,000 mustard bombs when it was sunk in a 1943 Luftwaffe attack on Bari, Italy. Assigned to examine a mysterious illness afflicting the surviving sailors, Lieut. Col. Stewart Alexander saw through a “concerted Allied effort to cover up the presence of poison gas in the harbor” and diagnosed mustard gas poisoning. He also connected the sailors' symptoms to a research project he had previously performed on the toxic effects of mustard on white blood cells. Though censored at the time, Alexander’s report was picked up by Col. Cornelius P. Rhoads, who would later head the Sloan Kettering Institute for Cancer Research. Rhoads drew on Alexander’s study to produce new and highly experimental cancer trials using nitrogen mustards. Though lay readers may find some descriptions of medical breakthroughs overly technical, Conant documents the many twists and turns of this little-known story with verve and precision. WWII aficionados and medical history fans will be fascinated by this illuminating chronicle.

Formats

  • OverDrive Listen audiobook

subjects

Languages

  • English

Loading
ESCC accessibility