Poison Mysteries in History, Romance and Crime

This edition has been fully restored with modern typesetting, custom cover design. Poison has always lived at the edge of science and legend, a hidden force that can heal, kill, or terrify in equal measure. This wide-ranging study follows its trail from tribal medicine-men and ancient warfare to royal intrigue, notorious murders, and the strange glamour of poison in romance and fiction. Drawing on Sumerian, Egyptian, Greek, Roman, Hebrew, Chinese, and Hindu lore, it explores early toxic knowledge, poisoned arrows and spears, and the secret traditions of African, Southeast Asian, American, and Arctic peoples who turned plants, insects, venoms, and tree saps into deadly weapons. It also examines poison in fishing, ordeal trials, and ritual judgment, where toxic brews served as instruments of law and social control. The book then turns to Europe's most unsettling poison mysteries: love-philtres, poisoned garments, boot-blacking, rings, gems, and the infamous "poisoned shirt," alongside celebrated cases such as the Borgias, Madame Lafarge, Madeline Smith, Crippen, the Seddons, and the Maybrick affair. Blending scholarship, true crime, and fascination, it reveals poison as one of history's most enduring secret weapons.