Wow! eBook
King of Poisons: A History of Arsenic
Author(s): John Parascandola (Author)
- Publisher: Potomac Books, Inc.
- Publication Date: 1 Oct. 2012
- Edition: Illustrated
- Language: English
- Print length: 224 pages
- ISBN-10: 1597977039
- ISBN-13: 9781597977036
Book Description
From Dorothy Sayers to Gustave Flaubert, arsenic has long held a place in the literary realm as an instrument of murder and suicide. It was delightfully used as a source of comedy in the famous play Arsenic and Old Lace. But as Parascandola shows, arsenic has had a number of surprising real-world applications. For centuries, it was found in such common items as wallpaper, paint, cosmetics, and even candy, and its use in medical treatments was widespread.
From murder to crime fiction, from industrial toxin to chemical warfare, arsenic remains a powerful force in modern life.
Editorial Reviews
Review
“From murder in fact and fiction to modern medicine–by way of taxidermy, food, wallpaper, drinking water, toxic wood, and much else besides–this wide-ranging, well-researched, and engagingly written book offers a fascinating overview of the social impact of arsenic, the perennially useful but always dangerous ‘king of poisons.’ There is something here for everyone –historians, scientists, and those who just want a good read. Highly recommended.”–Katherine Watson, author of
Poisoned Lives: English Poisoners and Their Victims and Forensic Medicine in Western Society: A History“John Parascandola has taken us on a fascinating and illuminating journey about the historical paradox of arsenic in life, health, and death.”–Richard Carmona, MD, MPH, FACS, former surgeon general of the United States
“The author has done a wonderful job of presenting to the readers an easily readable and well-researched discussion of this elemental weapon of murder. Throughout history arsenic has not only been the number-one substance used in criminal poisoning, but is the first substance that comes to their minds of most people when they hear ‘murder by poison.'”–John H. Trestrail III, director, Center for the Study of Criminal Poisoning
“There’s no poison with a longer, darker, more fascinating history than arsenic. And in his book
King of Poisons, John Parascandola tells its story in compelling detail, from famous murders to chemical warfare. The result is an addictively readable look at one of the important–and definitely one of the most dangerous–elements on Earth.”–Deborah Blum, author of The Poisoner’s Handbook: Murder and the Birth of Forensic Medicine in Jazz Age New York
