The Arsenic Century: How Victorian Britain was Poisoned at Home, Work, and Play 1st Edition by James C. Whorton (PDF)

Description

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 in arsenical 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 environmental poisoning dramas that grew ever more common during the twentieth century and still has no end in sight.

User’s Reviews

Editorial Reviews: Review “A compelling and entertaining read, with much tongue-in-cheek humor, but it is not for the fainthearted, as symptoms and distress are graphically described and illustrated. The narrative is a complex mix of quotation and the author s own words, which creates the feel of a Victorian melodrama. It is well researched and finely detailed with the history of legislative controls, medical advances, and the development of medical jurisprudence all successfully interwoven throughout the narrative. Although the text has wide popular appeal, it will also be of interest to scholars researching environmental, legal, and medical history.” — Journal of British Studies About the Author James C. Whorton is Professor Emeritus of the History of Medicine at the University of Washington, Seattle, and has written numerous articles and books on the history of medicine and health, including Nature Cures. The History of Alternative Medicine in America, also published by Oxford University Press.

Reviews from Amazon users which were colected at the time this book was published on the website:

⭐The Arsenic Century: How Victorian Britain Was Poisoned at Home, Work, and Play is one book that may not be for everyone, but for me this was exactly what I have been looking for: a comprehensive well-told mixture of medical and legal case histories that involved a truly unusual portion of history and central subject. It seems I am drawn to these types of titles that can serve me well to learning more about certain eras and The Arsenic Century: How Victorian Britain Was Poisoned at Home, Work, and Play definitely had me saying “I didn’t know that” quite a few times when it came to its hodgepotch of little known facts and the strong doses of bygone crimes and old beliefs had me eagerly reaching for my kindle late at night. It also had the right number of true deadly examples that clearly explained why the 19th century could be aptly called “The Arsenic Century” and the reasons Arsenic was said to be “the poisons of poisons”. It did however let me down somewhat with the final chapters that meandered away from the central interest at certain points and the lack of photographs surprised me. Thankfully though everything else presented kept me reading and I am very satisfied with this non-fiction work joining my eclectic shelves, it has found a proper place next to

⭐,

⭐and perhaps by

⭐but time will tell.

⭐Before reading this book, I’d already vaguely heard about the Victorians and their walls flaking arsenic – but this book has been a revelation! The arsenical walls were the least of it – it seems that arsenic could be found in absolutely everything from paint and wall coverings to children’s toys and beer. Dr Whorton describes the whole horrifying situation in an informative and yet entertaining way describing various cases of wives murdering husbands with arsenic and vice versa and at the same time he paints a very clear picture of what life was like in those days, especially for the poor (especially children of 9 or 10 years old) who were obliged to expose themselves to the dangers of arsenic poisoning (making artificial flowers, making wallpapers etc.) just in order to survive. And then as now the usual culprits were the big businessmen who got rich and refused to believe that their workers were risking their health and even their lives while Parliament refused to pass stringent laws to protect consumers and workers because they didn’t want to offend the rich businessmen. Apart from the working conditions of the young children, I think what shocked me the most was the writer’s description of the site of a smelting factory (in the USA) which wss cleared towards the end of the 20th century and is now considere prime real-estate; the only problem is that the people who live there won’t be able to grow any trees on their land because once the tree roots get down to a certain depth, they will reach the arsonic layer and will die!!! I read this book on my Kindle but I enjoyed it so much that i’m going to buy several copies of the book for my friends because I know they’ll enjoy it as much as I have.

⭐Good background on Victorian England in several ways. When I first started reading this book, I was really disappointed. I thought I was picking up a book having to do with arsenic poisoning due to food and the presence of arsenic in things around their homes. The first few chapters were purely on people using arsenic to poison other people. It was very interesting, but that wasn’t what I wanted. I knew about arsenic being a common poison used against other people, but I’ve been studying the problems with various chemicals that were used in everyday things that usually caused disabilities or death, such as mercury in Beethoven. So I was getting very concerned when the book at first seemed to concentrate on deliberate poisonings.But finally the book moved into the area I wanted…to know how adulteration of many common household products ended up poisoning the Victorians in both the US and Great Britain without their knowledge. The book proved to be a great read, with terrific research using court cases and medical knowledge that developed from people who were alarmed at all the poison being spread. I love history in medical information that can be used in my classes.

⭐This book initially appealed to me because I study gender and poison, but I believe this book will appeal to people with a broad range of interests; anyone interested in the development of forensic science, food regulation, labour safety, chemistry, legal proceedings and Victorian life in general will find this fascinating. By following this one product’s journey from a common, easily obtainable powder used as a health aid to a regulated poison, the author touches on everything from fake flowers, fabric dyes, wallpapers, candies, murders, accidental poisonings, and sheep dip. As the thoughtful reader watches the struggle between competing interest groups develop, he or she cannot help but think of more recent parallels (tobacco, anyone?) and to wonder what substances we are arguing over today (flouride? transfat?) that in a hundred years or so will seem to our descendants to be so obviously harmful.Very well researched and very well written. I highly recommend this.

⭐This is fascinating read. Everyone seems to have a bit of knowledge of arsenic poisoning as a way to eliminate someone from the planet. The extent that it reached is quite something and this book really illustrates the reach well. I particularly found the chapters about clothing and wall covering fascinating. Unimaginable! The science of deducing sources on the poison was a real quagmire. I recommend this book if you are interested in topics you’d never imagine could interest you!

⭐This is a fascinating book by James C Whorton which illustrates just how dangerous it was in Victorian times, with virulent poisons readily on sale and obtainable. One of the worst was Scheele’s Green, a dye which produced a lovely green colour on items like wallpaper, fumes from which could be very debilitating and on occasion fatal. The book discloses that Napoleon probably did not die of arsenical poisoning, although he, Josephine and their son were found to have had arsenic residue in their hair over a number of years, probably via Scheele’s. Illustrations are largely confined to line drawings. A must for Victorian scholars and anyone who likes true-crime fact, although I found the writing a bit pedestrian, which was disappointing and resulted in the loss of a star. Worth buying though.

⭐”How much can you really say about Arsenic?” was my first thought when I ordered this book but I was encouraged by the positive ratings. Also, it turns out you can actually say a whole lot about Arsenic, in fact there is an entire history to it! An absolutely fascintating read that kept me interested throughout. It’s amazing how much of an effect that Arsenic had on so many people, in so many ways! The book is very well written and very educational which made it a pleasure to read. Although, I did scare my friends a bit by continuously coming out with random Arsenic facts and stories etc lol but I couldn’t help but share.Would definitely recommend this book, 10/10 🙂

⭐Although everyone knows Arsenic is poisonous, but few know now how widespread was its use; for all manner of household and industrial purposes in the 19th century. It’s just amazing that there were not wholesale mass-poisoning, it just shows how resilient the human body is and it’s not at all surprising the Napoleon had it in him, with or without the damp green wallpaper, practically anyone would have. And as for the thousands (yes, thousands) of women employed to process birds skins for hats using Arsenic…

⭐This book describes how easy it was for ordinary people (that is not doctors) to acquire lethal poisons in the Victorian era. In the 1840’s (also known as the hungry forties) when every penny counted, mothers would often give their offspring a lethal dose of Arsenic or Strychnine to reduce the number of mouths they had to feed. When burial clubs sprang up, again mothers would often poison their children to pocket the funeral money. All in all, a very interesting book for those with an interest in true crime.

⭐This is a very well researched book . It does sometimes repeat itself within chapters but it is a very interesting and informative book . I learnt a great many things and enjoyed reading it. For people interested in the downside of Victorian life it is well worth reading and one gets a lot out of it . I would recommend it to anybody interested in the era .

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