Poison: A History: An Account of the Deadly Art and its Most Infamous Practitioners

by Jenni Davis

A History  lifts the lid on 30 notorious cases of poisoning—riveting accounts ranging from Roman poisoning epidemics to the shocking antics of toxic aristocrats in 16th-century Florence and 17th-century Versailles, all the way up to the murder of Alexander Litvinenko by means of a polonium-laced cup of tea in 2006.
 
Cases of intentional poisoning have likely been occurring since early humans discovered that a sour aftertaste isn't the only consequence of snacking on belladonna. In the twenty-first century, the art of the poisoner remains just as creepy, secret, and horribly fascinating as ever. A History  reveals intriguing insights into the poisonous art, including the  psyches of the perpetrators . These richly illustrated stories detail both motive and method , along with body count .

The five chapters in this comprehensive overview of poisoning  take us from 399 BCE to the present day, in chronological Poison in the Ancient World, Medieval Times and the Renaissance, Mid 17th to 18th “The Skills of Witches,” 19th The Golden Age of Poisoning, and From Cults to the 1970s and Beyond. Plus, A History  includes a timeline on fashions in poison, and a top-20 identifier—to help you steer clear.

A History  is a chilling cabinet of poison sure to inform and fascinate.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, True Crime, Science, Historical

192 pages, Paperback

Published November 6, 2018

Reviews

[Julie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really great read if you love history, seeing how poison was considered the norm in society for centuries and even considered extremely popular with royalty. Seeing it start off as just people taking plants and seeds and later on using it for chemical warfare. Not suprised women were considered primary poisoners considering a majority of people mentioned were trying to get rid of spouses. 😒

[Logan Albright · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not really a history of poison or poisoning, but rather a coffee table book containing cursory treatments of about 30 famous poisoners/poisonings. There's some useful information here, but we only get a few pages on each entry, and the book is heavily padded by full page photos and redundant introductions to each section. Without these, the entire thing is less than a hundred pages of actual content. The prose is at an undergraduate level, filled with clichés and non sequiturs. Also, the author has an irksome tendency to defend, excuse, or otherwise apologize for female poisoners. You go girl! I get the appeal of taking a cheeky tone and somewhat romanticizing the art of poisoning, but the fact that she only applies this lens to women reveals her biases. She even takes some baffling and gratuitous shots at Socrates (of all people!)

[Tom Darrow · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not so much a history of the overall topic of poisoning, rather a somewhat interesting collection of 30 stories about poisoners and their victims. Some are pretty well known, like Rasputin and Jim Jones, but there are also a lot of less known. Each story is 3-5 pages. For some stories, that is plenty, but more detail and depth on others would be nice. One way of looking at this book is as an intro to these stories that you can read about in more depth elsewhere.

A couple flaws, though. There is a lot of page number padding. Each entry has a full page picture of the subject of the chapter. Multiple pictures, large margins and big block quotes further pad the page count. There are also some pretty egregious factual errors like calling Guyana a country in northWEST South America.

[Eavan McKinnon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty easy read, fascinating but jumped to conclusions from speculations and rumors. Even simple knowledge about certain well known murderers like Jack the Ripper, you knew this information jumped way too fast to a conclusion that was obviously not based in truth or actual evidence and instead of just stating that, they outright stated that someone was the culprit when it was already debunked.
Good and okay on all other areas.

[Charlotte · Rating 5 out of 5]

A comprehensive and entertaining history of poison use, from Socrates to the Victorians, The World Wars, cults, espionage and terrorism. Perfectly accompanied by pictures and illustrations, and includes a brief discussion about the forensics of crime cases. This book is a lot more engrossing that you’d ever anticipate. Spent the day reading it and never got bored, so easily earns five stars.

[Tabbitha Rivera · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is exactly as the title states: A history of poison. I really enjoyed this educational read. It has some great information and I learned a lot particularly about poison used in war. 🌞🌞🌞🌞 (4/5 Stars)

#tabbyslibrary #ahistoryofpoison #poison

[Jessica McGee · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting but slightly disappointing. I bought the book looking for information on the history of Aquatofana, and there is surprisingly little information. Otherwise, its a very interesting and quick read.

[Bianca · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book. Each story gives just enough detail as not to overwhelm the reader. Would recommend!

[Martha · Rating 4 out of 5]

A quick, fascinating, albeit disturbing, read.

[Jessica · Rating 3 out of 5]

Informative and in some cases, quite unbelievable.

[Unreliable NarraTBR · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall it's fine, but not the "history" I was looking for. Still fun.

[Ryder (with a y) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very fascinating coverage of various poisons and poisonings. Felt very ominous whenever I would read it in public though.

[Jessica · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bloody brilliant. Scary that so many murderous people have existed...but an excellent and well-written read.