The Inheritor’s Powder is a gripping read, particularly if you enjoy forensic science and historical whodunits. It wasn’t until James Marsh discovered a method for testing that provided a visual proof (versus an iffy “garlic smell”) that prosecution of arsenic crimes could proceed with any certainty. Accidental and of course, purposeful arsenic poisonings were routine but difficult for authorities to prove. The resulting investigation riveted the nation and attracted world-wide notoriety for the characters involved.Īrsenic was used in practically everything in the 19 th century – in wallpaper, clothing dyes, hat ornaments, candles, candy and even beer and wine as well as rat poison. Three days later he died in agony – presumably from arsenic. The book traces the court case of John Bodle – the grandson of wealthy farmer George Bodle who suddenly fell desperately ill on the morning of November 2, 1833. The Inheritor’s Powder is a fascinating read! The book is also full of fascinating diversions into aspects of medical and social history, from Snow's tending of Queen Victoria in childbirth, to the Dutch microbiologist Leeuwenhoek's breeding of lice in his socks, and from Dickensian children's farms to riotous nineteenth-century anaesthesia parties.I’ve been burning to read this book since I first learned about James Marsh, a chemist employed by the Royal Arsenal in Woolwich (outside of London), and his discovery of a test for arsenic. The book draws extensively on nineteenth-century medical, political and personal records in order to describe what is both an important breakthrough for medical science and also a dramatic story with a cast of colourful characters, from the heroic to the frighteningly incompetent. John Snow was a reclusive doctor, without money or social position, who had the genius to look beyond the conventional wisdom of his day and work out that cholera was spread through drinking water. Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for The Inheritors Powder: A Cautionary Tale of Poison, Betrayal and Greed by Sandra Hempel. One man - alone and unrecognized - uncovered the truth behind the pandemic and laid the foundations for the modern scientific investigation of today's fatal plagues. When it arrived in Britain, its repercussions rocked Victorian England - from the filthy lanes of the Sunderland quayside and the squalid streets of Soho, to the great centres of power: the Privy Council, Whitehall and the Royal Medical Colleges.

Cholera is a killer with little respect for class or wealth. In 1831, an unknown, horrifying and deadly disease from Asia swept across Continental Europe, killing millions in its path and throwing the medical profession into confusion. In The Inheritors Powder, Sandra Hempel takes us through the murder of George Bodle, and through that murder, the history of arsenic as a poison and forensic.

The Inheritor's Powder by Sandra Hempel