The Arsenic Century:How Victorian Britain was Poisoned at Home, Work, and Play

How Victorian Britain was Poisoned at Home, Work, and Play

Nonfiction, Science & Nature, Science, Other Sciences, History
Cover of the book The Arsenic Century:How Victorian Britain was Poisoned at Home, Work, and Play by James C. Whorton, OUP Oxford
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: James C. Whorton ISBN: 9780191623431
Publisher: OUP Oxford Publication: July 14, 2011
Imprint: OUP Oxford Language: English
Author: James C. Whorton
ISBN: 9780191623431
Publisher: OUP Oxford
Publication: July 14, 2011
Imprint: OUP Oxford
Language: English

Arsenic is rightly infamous as the poison of choice for Victorian murderers. Yet the great majority of fatalities from arsenic in the nineteenth century came not from intentional poisoning, but from accident.Kept in many homes for the purpose of poisoning rats, the white powder was easily mistaken for sugar or flour and often incorporated into the family dinner. It was also widely present in green dyes, used to tint everything from candles and candies to curtains, wallpaper, and clothing (it was arsenic in old lace that was the danger). Whether at home amidst arsenical curtains and wallpapers, at work manufacturing these products, or at play swirling about the papered, curtained ballroom inarsenical gowns and gloves, no one was beyond the poison's reach.Drawing on the medical, legal, and popular literature of the time, The Arsenic Century paints a vivid picture of its wide-ranging and insidious presence in Victorian daily life, weaving together the history of its emergence as a nearly inescapable household hazard with the sordid story of its frequent employment as a tool of murder and suicide. And ultimately, as the final chapter suggests, arsenic in Victorian Britain was very much the pilot episode for a series of environmentalpoisoning dramas that grew ever more common during the twentieth century and still has no end in sight.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

Arsenic is rightly infamous as the poison of choice for Victorian murderers. Yet the great majority of fatalities from arsenic in the nineteenth century came not from intentional poisoning, but from accident.Kept in many homes for the purpose of poisoning rats, the white powder was easily mistaken for sugar or flour and often incorporated into the family dinner. It was also widely present in green dyes, used to tint everything from candles and candies to curtains, wallpaper, and clothing (it was arsenic in old lace that was the danger). Whether at home amidst arsenical curtains and wallpapers, at work manufacturing these products, or at play swirling about the papered, curtained ballroom inarsenical gowns and gloves, no one was beyond the poison's reach.Drawing on the medical, legal, and popular literature of the time, The Arsenic Century paints a vivid picture of its wide-ranging and insidious presence in Victorian daily life, weaving together the history of its emergence as a nearly inescapable household hazard with the sordid story of its frequent employment as a tool of murder and suicide. And ultimately, as the final chapter suggests, arsenic in Victorian Britain was very much the pilot episode for a series of environmentalpoisoning dramas that grew ever more common during the twentieth century and still has no end in sight.

More books from OUP Oxford

Cover of the book International Criminal Procedure by James C. Whorton
Cover of the book Institutions For Future Generations by James C. Whorton
Cover of the book Homicide and the Politics of Law Reform by James C. Whorton
Cover of the book The Actual and the Possible by James C. Whorton
Cover of the book Communities of Respect by James C. Whorton
Cover of the book Indonesian Law by James C. Whorton
Cover of the book Urban Legends by James C. Whorton
Cover of the book Corporate Obligations under International Law by James C. Whorton
Cover of the book The Oxford Handbook of Music Psychology by James C. Whorton
Cover of the book Enchantment and Creed in the Hymns of Ambrose of Milan by James C. Whorton
Cover of the book Miss Julie and Other Plays by James C. Whorton
Cover of the book Competition Policy for the New Era by James C. Whorton
Cover of the book Depression by James C. Whorton
Cover of the book Ageing: A Very Short Introduction by James C. Whorton
Cover of the book The New Statistics with R by James C. Whorton
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy