Cases of intentional poisoning have likely been occurring ever since early humans discovered that a sour aftertaste isn't the only consequence of snacking on belladonna. In the 21st century, the art of the poisoner remains just as horribly fascinating as ever. This profusely illustrated history gives us Socrates, Cleopatra, Hermann Göring, and Jim Jones, plus accounts of Roman poisoning epidemics, toxic aristocrats in 16th-century Florence and 17th-century Versailles, and the 2006 murder of Alexander Litvinenko by means of a polonium-laced cup of tea. Probing the motives and the methods, Jenni Davis reveals intriguing insights into the poisonous art, including the psyches of the perpetrators.