The Poisoner's Handbook: Murder and the Birth of Forensic Medicine in Jazz Age New York
Author:
Genres: History, Nonfiction, Science & Math, Medicine, Medical Books
Book Type: Hardcover
Author:
Genres: History, Nonfiction, Science & Math, Medicine, Medical Books
Book Type: Hardcover
Helpful Score: 3
I love true crime books. I find it fascinating to read about crimes that really happened. I know that makes me weird, but so be it.
For a person who has similar (morbid) tastes, "The Poisoner's Handbook" perfectly fits the bill. These crimes take place in New York City during the Jazz Age. The author carefully describes various poisons, such as wood alcohol, arsenic, and radium and the various effects it had on the victims. If your knowledge of poisons is based on tv shows or movies, you will be surprised to find out a lot you (probably) didn't know already.
As you can guess, forensic science was in its infancy at the time. This book focuses on Charles Norris, the New York City coroner, Alexander Gettler, Mr Norris' lead chemist and Harrison Martland, the New Jersey coroner. These people are for real, not like the old "Ouincy, ME" television show of long ago.
When you see old movies of people drinking "bathtub gin" during Prohibition, it looks so carefree and fun. But it wasn't. Many deaths were caused by the "hooch" that was made from renatured industrial alcohol. It wasn't a pretty death, either. It makes me wonder why anyone would be willing to take the risk of drinking homemade booze, but plenty of people did it, I guess thinking "It won't happen to me".
When you see what types of ingredients were in the common ordinary household items, you will wonder how anybody managed to stay alive in that type period. You think toxic products are bad now, when you read this book, you will be surprised how far (or maybe not) we have come.
One of the more interesting sections (to me) was the part about radium. You wouldn't think of ingesting a radium laced "health elixir" now. But it was very common during that time period. It also made me think of the F. Scott Fitzgerald short story, The Diamond as Big as the Ritz. It makes me wonder what happened after the end of the story.
I had heard the story of the radium watch factory workers from my father. I was pleasantly surprised to see it told in full in this book. It seems somebody might have thought about the possibility of poisoning in the factory workers, but apparently the company didn't realize what radium is capable of doing.
I strongly recommend this book for any fans of true crime or the "CSI" roster of shows. It's a great read and you will learn a lot about poisons,
For a person who has similar (morbid) tastes, "The Poisoner's Handbook" perfectly fits the bill. These crimes take place in New York City during the Jazz Age. The author carefully describes various poisons, such as wood alcohol, arsenic, and radium and the various effects it had on the victims. If your knowledge of poisons is based on tv shows or movies, you will be surprised to find out a lot you (probably) didn't know already.
As you can guess, forensic science was in its infancy at the time. This book focuses on Charles Norris, the New York City coroner, Alexander Gettler, Mr Norris' lead chemist and Harrison Martland, the New Jersey coroner. These people are for real, not like the old "Ouincy, ME" television show of long ago.
When you see old movies of people drinking "bathtub gin" during Prohibition, it looks so carefree and fun. But it wasn't. Many deaths were caused by the "hooch" that was made from renatured industrial alcohol. It wasn't a pretty death, either. It makes me wonder why anyone would be willing to take the risk of drinking homemade booze, but plenty of people did it, I guess thinking "It won't happen to me".
When you see what types of ingredients were in the common ordinary household items, you will wonder how anybody managed to stay alive in that type period. You think toxic products are bad now, when you read this book, you will be surprised how far (or maybe not) we have come.
One of the more interesting sections (to me) was the part about radium. You wouldn't think of ingesting a radium laced "health elixir" now. But it was very common during that time period. It also made me think of the F. Scott Fitzgerald short story, The Diamond as Big as the Ritz. It makes me wonder what happened after the end of the story.
I had heard the story of the radium watch factory workers from my father. I was pleasantly surprised to see it told in full in this book. It seems somebody might have thought about the possibility of poisoning in the factory workers, but apparently the company didn't realize what radium is capable of doing.
I strongly recommend this book for any fans of true crime or the "CSI" roster of shows. It's a great read and you will learn a lot about poisons,
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