War has always provided a stimulus to technological development, and throughout the twentieth century this new technology was harnessed to produce increasingly deadly and malicious types of explosives in the form of booby traps, mines, delayed-action devices and mobile charges. Designed, constructed or adopted to kill or injure, these lethal mechanisms function when a person disturbs or approaches a seemingly harmless object or performs an apparently safe act. In other instances they are set off by remote control or automatically after a lapse of time. Fully illustrated with diagrams and photographs, Malice Aforethought traces the design, deployment and effectiveness of these deadly devices throughout both world wars to the Vietnam War. Expertly and compellingly written, this unique study is a tribute to the brave men who risked their lives daily to neutralise the booby traps laid in the dimly lit dugouts of the Western Front, on the beaches of Normandy, or in the dark and dangerous tunnels of Chu Chi.

イアン・ジョーンズが描く本作は、人間の知性が「悪意」へと変貌する瞬間の記録です。罠がいかに洗練された凶器となるか。その背後にある人間の残酷さと、それに立ち向かう者の究極の勇気を、著者は冷徹かつ情熱的に見出しています。死と隣り合わせの静寂が、読者の肌を刺すような筆致で綴られており、文字から立ち上がる緊張感はまさに圧巻の一言に尽きます。 映像版が爆発の衝撃をダイレクトに伝えるのに対し、本書はテキストならではの「思考の深淵」を突きつけます。設計者の狡猾な意図を掘り下げる記述は、映像では零れ落ちがちな心理的重圧を補完し、読者の想像力をより暗い淵へと誘います。両者を併せて味わうことで、技術の進化が孕む狂気と、命を賭して罠を解く者たちの崇高な魂が、より多層的に浮かび上がるはずです。