Bertha Sophia Felicita von Suttner was a 19th century author and peace activist from Austria. Her most famous work, the anti-war novel titled ‘Die Waffen Nieder’ (Lay Down Your Arms), became an international bestseller and was published in all the major world languages of the time. Upon the success of her novel, Bertha von Suttner quickly rose to prominence within the international peace movement that was gaining ground in Europe and in the United States of America. She founded the Austrian Peace Society, contributed to the establishment of many other pacifist organizations throughout Europe and founded a peace journal, Die Waffen Nieder, which was later succeeded by the journal Die Friedens-Warte.

With it’s recent decision to honour the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, the Nobel Committee has sent a powerful message of concern that should be attached to nuclear weapons. It comes at a moment when North Korea is actively developing its nuclear programme, the fate of the Iran nuclear deal is in the balance, and the United States and Russia are both seeking to modernise their nuclear forces. ICAN campaigned for the drafting of an entirely new disarmament agreement – the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons – that was opened for signature at the United Nations in July this year. We have created a Library special on nuclear disarmament in order to provide you easy access to our collection.