Deadly Nightshade

Step into the shadowed world where medicine and murder intertwine. In Deadly NightShade: The Guide to Nature's Poisons, author Nick Razer unveils the hidden history of the world's most toxic plants — from the cup of hemlock that ended Socrates, to aconite-tipped arrows in ancient China, to the Cold War assassination of Georgi Markov with a ricin-filled umbrella. Blending the precision of a field guide with the intrigue of true crime, this book explores more than a dozen infamous plants, including deadly nightshade, hemlock, foxglove, mandrake, jimsonweed, and oleander. Each chapter provides clear identification, toxicology, folklore, and gripping stories of how these poisons have shaped wars, medicine, and legends across centuries. Whether you are a student of botany, history, folklore, or forensic science, this book reveals how nature's most beautiful plants often carry the deadliest secrets. Both a cautionary manual and a historical compendium, Deadly NightShade shows why the line between remedy and poison has always been perilously thin. If you've ever been fascinated by poisonous plants, infamous murders, or the strange overlap between witchcraft and toxicology, this is your essential guide.