The Royal Art of Poison: Fatal Cosmetics, Deadly Medicines and Murder Most Foul

Agatha Christie's spirit must be loving this poisonous new historical entertainment The SpectatorThe story of poison is the story of power... For centuries, royal families have feared the gut-roiling, vomit-inducing agony of a little something added to their food or wine by an enemy. To avoid poison, they depended on tasters, unicorn horns and antidotes tested on condemned prisoners. Servants licked the royal family s spoons, tried on their underpants and tested their chamber pots. Ironically, royals terrified of poison were unknowingly poisoning themselves daily with their cosmetics, medications and filthy living conditions. Women wore makeup made with lead. Men rubbed feces on their bald spots. Physicians prescribed mercury enemas, arsenic skin cream, drinks of lead filings and potions of human fat and skull, fresh from the executioner. Gazing at gorgeous portraits of centuries past, we don t see what lies beneath the royal robes and the stench of unwashed bodies; the lice feasting on private parts; and worms nesting in the intestines.The Royal Art of Poison is a hugely entertaining work of popular history that traces the use of poison as a political - and cosmetic - tool in the royal courts of Western Europe from the Middle Ages to the Kremlin today.***PRAISE FOR THE ROYAL ART OF POISON*** New York Times Book Review BEST TRUE CRIME TALES 'Rambunctious, rip-roaring history...' Sarah Gristwood, author of Game of Queens: The Women Who Made Sixteenth Century Europe 'Eleanor Herman provides an engaging and well researched account of the murky world of royal poisonings. Packed with interesting details, The Royal Art of Poison is a joy to read' Elizabeth Norton, historian and author of The Hidden Lives of Tudor Women and England's Queens: The Biography 'This is a treasure trove of surprises guaranteed to make your skin crawl. With delicious detail sure to turn your stomach, The Royal Art of Poison is a terrifying delight' Matthew Lewis, author of Survival of the Princes in the Tower: Murder, Mystery and Myth 'A delightful page turner!' Dr Lindsey Fitzharris, author of The Butchering Art 'Reads like juicy historical gossip' BuzzFeed 'Will, for once in your life, make you happy you are not a princess or a queen or someone who lives in a palace. The book is amazing and really makes me wonder how we've managed to survive. It will make you glad to be in your own home' Forbes 'Truly scary' Daily Mail