The Great Secret

“In a history that reads like a novel, Conant connects the 1943 bombing by the Nazis of an American ship containing banned mustard gas to the development of chemotherapy as a cancer treatment.” – An Editors’ Choice of the New York Times Book Review”[A] compelling narrative.… fascinating.” – Laura Landro - Wall Street Journal“Engrossing.… Convey[s] a fast-paced medical detective story that demonstrates how careful scientific observation can yield unexpected benefits and serves as a reminder of the difficult choices made by governments to balance public health and secrecy in matters of security.” – Peter Reczek - Science“With a keen understanding of medical science, cancer, and the history of World War II, as well as an amazing range of sources, Conant dramatically illuminates a dark moment in history that eventually led to the medical breakthrough of chemotherapy.” – National Book Review“Few writers are better at finding new paths through the well-worn territory of World War II than historian Jennet Conant…. Conant delights in the devilish details, the hidden, overlooked, and deeply personal stories that constitute our collective historical record. In her deft and experienced hands, readers will discover great delight as well.” – Jessica Lahey - Air Mail“The Great Secret is a ripping good yarn, jam-packed with marvelous prose, wonderful historical characters, and superb research on a little-known but critical chapter in the history of medicine and the Second World War. I could not put this book down until I reached the final page.” – Howard Markel, MD, PhD, director of the Center for the History of Medicine, University of Michigan“With a scintillating detective-tale plot rendered with an accomplished novelist’s flair, Jennet Conant peels back the layers of deception employed by Allied authorities—including Winston Churchill—to conceal the fact that many of those who died at the Bari disaster in December 1943 perished from unprecedented exposure to mustard gas and immersion in ship fuel oil. This fast-paced narrative alone would make The Great Secret a landmark work, but Conant surpasses this with the even more astonishing chronicle of how insights into the Bari deaths ultimately galvanized the creation of the whole field of cancer chemotherapy. This is a heartbreaking and inspiring tale of tragedy leading to triumph.” – Richard B. Frank, author of Tower of Skulls: A History of the Asia-Pacific War, July 1937–May 1942“In her masterly The Great Secret, Jennet Conant has given us at once a crucial World War II story and a medical mystery as unsettling as it is gripping. As Conant’s hero (that’s not too strong a word), a US Army medical officer named Stewart Alexander, starts to unlock the secret that has caused scores of unnecessary deaths, he comes to understand the immense consequences of these now all-but-forgotten events, and sets in motion studies that&mdsah;as Ms. Conant explains with wonderfully lucid and vigorous authority—have shaped the medical landscape we inhabit today.” – Richard Snow, author of A Measureless Peril: America in the Fight for the Atlantic, the Longest Battle of World War II“Jennet Conant has uncovered a humdinger of a tale, one that is equal parts war story, conspiracy thriller and medical mystery. More than anything, The Great Secret shows how the dogged efforts of a handful of scientists were able to turn a wartime tragedy and coverup into one of society’s greatest gifts. This is a rare jewel of a story that readers will love and fellow historians will covet.” – James M. Scott, Pulitzer Prize finalist and author of Target Tokyo and Rampage“Jennet Conant unravels the remarkable story of a World War II chemical weapons disaster which inspired one of the twentieth century’s greatest breakthroughs in medicine with verve and precision. The Great Secret reads like a wartime adventure and political thriller combined.” – Wendy Moore, author of No Man’s Land: The Trailblazing Women Who Ran Britain’s Most Extraordinary Military Hospital During World War I

Jennet Conant is the New York Times best-selling author of Tuxedo Park, 109 East Palace, The Irregulars, The Great Secret, and the critically acclaimed Man of the Hour. She lives in Sag Harbor, New York.