author
Victor Lefebure
A chemist, soldier, and writer, this early 20th-century author brought unusual firsthand knowledge to his books on chemical warfare and modern conflict. His best-known work, The Riddle of the Rhine, explores how science, industry, and war became tightly linked after World War I.
1 Audiobook
The Riddle of the Rhine: Chemical Strategy in Peace and War
by Victor Lefebure
About the author
Born in London in 1891, Victor Lefebure studied at William Ellis School and then at University College London, where he earned a BSc in 1911. He stayed on in academic work for a time and was later associated with chemistry as both a profession and a field of public writing.
During the First World War, he served in work connected with chemical warfare, experience that shaped the books he later wrote. Contemporary sources describe him as a Fellow of the Chemical Society and note honors including the OBE, the Légion d'honneur, and the Crown of Italy.
Lefebure is best remembered for The Riddle of the Rhine: Chemical Strategy in Peace and War, a book that examined the political and industrial power behind chemical warfare. He died in 1947, but his writing still offers a striking view of how science and military strategy were intertwined in the aftermath of the war.