Wednesday, February 19, 2020

The Royal Art of Poison by Eleanor Herman (audiobook)

genre: nonfiction

There are so many ways to die by poison.  It's pretty astonishing, really.  Throughout history, if you were in any position of power then the fear of being poisoned was a very real one.  In this history of poisons we learn of all the different ways one might be given a  poison (it's in your tea!  or your makeup!  or a your cupcake! or you inhale it because it was sprayed on some paper!) as well as many historical figures who died by poison and what that looked like. It's not a pretty book.  It shares, in all it's graphic and gory details, what it looks like to die from poison.  There are countless autopsies, exhumations, examinations of records of gruesome deaths.  If you're into this sort of thing, it's pretty dang awesome.

I found it highly entertaining.  Sometimes the historical detail got a little bit dry but overall I felt like I learned a lot and wanted to talk about what I was learning with the people around me.  Some wanted to hear it, some didn't.  HA!  It's not for everyone but I enjoyed this quirky history lesson.


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