More soldiers and civilians have died in contemporary wars and their aftermath as a result of the indiscriminate use of land-mines and other anti-personnel weapons than from any other type of modern armament. Some 85 million anti-personnel weapons now lie scattered around the world, yet little has been published about them outside defence circles. The story of their development and proliferation since World War 11 makes clear why an entire UN Treaty, the 1980s Conventional Weapons Convention, is now devoted to the subject.… (more)