Poison: A Social History

An Illustrated History of Poison or Poisoners

Joel Levy (Autor)

Buch | Hardcover

224 Seiten

2011
The History Press Ltd (Verlag)
978-0-7524-5547-1 (ISBN)

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From Greek philosophers to former Russian spies, the use of poison as a means of ending a life - whether through assassination, murder, suicide, or execution - has a history stretching back over 2,000 years. Even before Socrates accepted his fate by drinking hemlock, countless people must have died as a result of ingesting naturally occurring poisons. And yet poisonous materials often also have beneficial properties: hydrogen fluoride, for example, is highly toxic to humans, but is also a vital component in the production of herbicides, pharmaceuticals, and fluorescent light bulbs. "Poison: a Social History" explores the nature of toxicity and reveals how poison has played a crucial and often unheralded role - for good and for bad - in human history. As well as examining a range of poisonous materials, it also contains case studies of famous, and infamous, poisonings.

JOEL LEVY is a writer and editor specialising in history, and is the author of several books, including Meltdown, about nuclear disasters, and History's Worst Battles.

Erscheint lt. Verlag	1.2.2011
Verlagsort	Stroud
Sprache	englisch
Maße	140 x 210 mm
Gewicht	440 g
Themenwelt	Geschichte ► Teilgebiete der Geschichte ► Kulturgeschichte
Themenwelt	Geschichte ► Teilgebiete der Geschichte ► Sozialgeschichte
ISBN-10	0-7524-5547-8 / 0752455478
ISBN-13	978-0-7524-5547-1 / 9780752455471
Zustand	Neuware