Theo Emery

Author of Hellfire Boys

American University Experiment Station: “Mustard Hill”

  • West-facing view of the American University Experiment Station, from the roof of the College of History building at American University. McKinley Hall, at center, was the main chemistry laboratory for the Bureau of Mines' research division and, later, the newly organized U.S. Chemical Warfare Service. (National Archives, photo no. 70-CW-2)
"Though squarely a crackling history, “Hellfire Boys” is also a relevant primer on the past 100 years and on a kind of total warmaking that continues to haunt us — sometimes from another hemisphere, sometimes in our own back yard....Emery’s reporting is vast and meticulous, and his storytelling is focused and clean."

―WASHINGTON POST

2017-12-29T03:11:48+00:00

―WASHINGTON POST

"Though squarely a crackling history, “Hellfire Boys” is also a relevant primer on the past 100 years and on a kind of total warmaking that continues to haunt us — sometimes from another hemisphere, sometimes in our own back yard....Emery’s reporting is vast and meticulous, and his storytelling is focused and clean."
"Moving crisply between stateside turf wars and battlefront combat, this well-written and well-researched slice of history will appeal to virtually any history or war buff." (Starred review)

―LIBRARY JOURNAL

2017-11-03T23:34:11+00:00

―LIBRARY JOURNAL

"Moving crisply between stateside turf wars and battlefront combat, this well-written and well-researched slice of history will appeal to virtually any history or war buff." (Starred review)
"Refusing to allow our modern revulsion of chemical weapons (however well-founded) to shape his extraordinary narrative, Emery—like all good historians—is determined to let the era of his subject speak for itself."

―HAMPTON SIDES, New York Times bestselling author of In the Kingdom of Ice, Ghost Soldiers, Hellhound on His Trail, and Blood and Thunder

2017-10-09T20:38:16+00:00

―HAMPTON SIDES, New York Times bestselling author of In the Kingdom of Ice, Ghost Soldiers, Hellhound on His Trail, and Blood and Thunder

"Refusing to allow our modern revulsion of chemical weapons (however well-founded) to shape his extraordinary narrative, Emery—like all good historians—is determined to let the era of his subject speak for itself."
"A fascinating and deeply researched account of how America reinvented its military—and itself—in its first modern global war. Theo Emery combines science, history, and character-driven drama to illuminate some of the darkest aspects of our national past."

―BEVERLY GAGE, author of The Day Wall Street Exploded and Professor of History and American Studies at Yale University

2017-10-09T20:37:06+00:00

―BEVERLY GAGE, author of The Day Wall Street Exploded and Professor of History and American Studies at Yale University

"A fascinating and deeply researched account of how America reinvented its military—and itself—in its first modern global war. Theo Emery combines science, history, and character-driven drama to illuminate some of the darkest aspects of our national past."
"Even military buffs will learn from this intensely researched, often unnerving account.... Readers will share Emery's lack of nostalgia for this half-forgotten weapon, but they will admire this satisfying combination of technical background, battlefield fireworks, biographies of colorful major figures, and personal anecdotes from individual soldiers."

―KIRKUS

2017-10-09T20:36:29+00:00

―KIRKUS

"Even military buffs will learn from this intensely researched, often unnerving account.... Readers will share Emery's lack of nostalgia for this half-forgotten weapon, but they will admire this satisfying combination of technical background, battlefield fireworks, biographies of colorful major figures, and personal anecdotes from individual soldiers."
"Journalist Emery offers a useful and absorbing reminder that, a century earlier, it was a different weapon of mass destruction that terrified both soldiers and civilians... This is a timely and often unsettling examination of a previously well-hidden government program."

―BOOKLIST

2017-10-09T20:36:05+00:00

―BOOKLIST

"Journalist Emery offers a useful and absorbing reminder that, a century earlier, it was a different weapon of mass destruction that terrified both soldiers and civilians... This is a timely and often unsettling examination of a previously well-hidden government program."