Parascandola, John (Author)
Potomac Books
Physical Details: ix + 197 pp.; ill.; bibl.; index
Language: English
For centuries, arsenic's image as a poison has been inextricably tied to images of foul play. In King of Poisons, John Parascandola examines the surprising history of this deadly element... From murder to crime fiction, from industrial toxin to chemical warfare, arsenic remains a powerful force in modern life....For centuries arsenic's image as a poison has been inextricably tied to images of foul play. In King of Poisons, John Parascandola examines the surprising history of this deadly element. From Gustave Flaubert to Dorothy Sayers, 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. It was frequently found in such common items as wallpaper, paint, cosmetics, and even candy, and its use in medical treatments was widespread. American ambassador Clare Boothe Luce suffered from exposure to arsenical paint in her study, and Napoleon's death has long been speculated to be the result of accidental or intentional poisoning. But arsenic poisoning is still a public menace. In the neighborhood around American University in Washington, D.C., the army has undertaken a massive cleanup of artillery shells and bottles containing chemical warfare agents such as arsenical lewisite after a number of workmen and residents became ill. Arsenic contamination of the water supply in Bangladesh and in West Bengal, India, is a major public health problem today. From murder to crime fiction, from industrial toxin to chemical warfare, arsenic remains a powerful force in modern life.
...MoreDescription Traces the history of Arsenic, focusing on its presence in literature, the environment, and in medicine.
Review Carmen J. Giunta (2013) Review of "King of Poisons: A History of Arsenic". Bulletin for the History of Chemistry (p. 74).
Review Rocke, Alan (2013) Review of "King of Poisons: A History of Arsenic". Isis: International Review Devoted to the History of Science and Its Cultural Influences.
Review Bartrip, P. W. J. (2013) Review of "King of Poisons: A History of Arsenic". Bulletin of the History of Medicine (pp. 687-688).
Similar Citations
Article
Bertomeu-Sánchez, José Ramón;
(2013)
Managing Uncertainty in the Academy and the Courtroom: Normal Arsenic and Nineteenth-Century Toxicology
(/isis/citation/CBB001320189/)
Article
José Ramón Bertomeu-Sánchez;
(2016)
From Forensic Toxicology to Biological Chemistry: Normal Arsenic and the Hazards of Sensitivity During the Nineteenth Century
(/isis/citation/CBB379831566/)
Article
Müller-Pohl, Simone;
Iris Borowy;
Marco Armiero;
Michelle Mart;
Janelle Lamoreaux;
Justine Philip;
(July 2021)
Of Perpetrators and Victims: Toxicity in Environmental History
(/isis/citation/CBB107480329/)
Book
Meharg, Andrew A.;
(2005)
Venomous Earth: How Arsenic Caused the World's Worst Mass Poisoning
(/isis/citation/CBB000740210/)
Book
Whorton, James C.;
(2010)
The Arsenic Century: How Victorian Britain Was Poisoned at Home, Work, and Play
(/isis/citation/CBB001230270/)
Article
John Parascandola;
(2015)
Pharmacology and Folklore: The Arsenic Eaters of Styria
(/isis/citation/CBB350147343/)
Article
Theodor Ebert;
(2019)
Did Descartes Die of Poisoning?
(/isis/citation/CBB869025758/)
Article
Meyer, Michal;
(2011)
An Everyday Poison
(/isis/citation/CBB001450541/)
Article
Matthew Holmes;
(2019)
Melancholy Consequences: Britain's Long Relationship with Agricultural Chemicals Since the Mid-Eighteenth Century
(/isis/citation/CBB437687860/)
Book
Susan L. Smith;
(2017)
Toxic Exposures: Mustard Gas and the Health Consequences of World War II in the United States
(/isis/citation/CBB716786519/)
Article
Bénéjam, Valérie;
(2008-9)
Joyce after Flaubert: The Cuckold as Imperfect Physician, the Writer as Physiologist
(/isis/citation/CBB001032507/)
Book
José Ramón Bertomeu Sánchez;
(2019)
¿Entre el fiscal y el verdugo?: Mateu Orfila i Rotger (1787-1853) y la toxicología del siglo XIX
(/isis/citation/CBB107113642/)
Book
Emsley, John;
(2008)
Molecules of Murder: Criminal Molecules and Classic Cases
(/isis/citation/CBB001021072/)
Article
Arup K. Chatterjee;
(2022)
Aconite in Victorian Tropical Toxicology
(/isis/citation/CBB339307937/)
Book
Frederick W. Gibbs;
(2018)
Poison, Medicine, and Disease in Late Medieval and Early Modern Europe
(/isis/citation/CBB877960706/)
Book
Emsley, John;
(2005)
The Elements of Murder: A History of Poison
(/isis/citation/CBB000740208/)
Article
Serena Buzzi;
(2019)
Farmaci tossici e rimedi contro i veleni nelle Eclogae dello Ps. Oribasio
(/isis/citation/CBB871879609/)
Chapter
Sellers, Christopher;
(2013)
The Cold War Over the Worker's Body: Cross-National Clashes over Maximum Allowable Concentrations in the Post-World War II Era
(/isis/citation/CBB001420170/)
Thesis
Yan Liu;
(2015)
Toxic Cures: Poisons and Medicines in Medieval China
(/isis/citation/CBB849633602/)
Article
Mar Cuenca-Lorente;
(2017)
Poisons, Trials and Experts: Pere Mata I Fontanet (1811–1877) and Spanish Nineteenth-Century Toxicology
(/isis/citation/CBB713181362/)
Be the first to comment!