English Poisoners and their Victims
Katherine Watson
From Mary Ann Cotton, the Victorian serial murderess, to Dr Crippen, poisoners have attracted a celebrity unmatched by violent killers. Secretly administered, often during a family meal, arsenic (the most commonly used poison) led to a slow and agonising death, while strychnine (with its characteristic bitter taste) killed very quickly. Poisoned Lives is the first history of the crime to examine poisoning and its consequences as a whole. Unwanted husbands, wives or lovers, illegitimate babies, children killed for the insurance money, relatives, rivals and employers were amongst the many victims of these calculating killers. Difficult to detect before 1800, poison undoubtedly had its heyday in the nineteenth century. In response to many suspected cases, forensic tests were developed that made detection increasingly likely, and the sale of poisons became more tightly controlled. Because of this, twentieth-century poisoning has become a crime largely associated with medical professionals including, most recently, Dr Harold Shipman.
'Round about the cauldron go;
In the poison'd entrails throw.' --
Shakespeare, Macbeth
"Poisoned Lives" is a well-written and meticulously researched account ... an intriguing contribution to medical, forensic and social history" -- P D JAMES, Sunday Telegraph
"This book gives the best overall view of poisoning as a social phenomenon that has ever been written" -- Mail on Sunday
