The Poison Maiden

Who can uncover the elusive identity of the Poison Maiden? The Poison Maiden is Paul Doherty's second compulsive novel set during the turbulent reign of Edward II, featuring Mathilde of Westminster.Perfect for fans of Ellis Peters and Robin Hobb. It's 1308 and England hovers on the brink of civil war. Edward II, his wife Isabella and the royal favourite Peter Gaveston, Earl of Cornwall, have been forced to retreat to the King's folly. Just an arrowshot away lay the Great Lords and Philip IV of France, who are demanding that the Earl of Cornwall be charged with high treason. Edward is trapped, and worse, he has learnt that Philip has the 'Poison Maiden' on his side, a formidable spy who did untold damage during his father's reign. As Edward tries in vain to unmask the identity of the spy, Mathilde, handmaiden to the Queen, also attempts to identify the source of this threat. Soon the crisis spills over into violence. The Lords attempt to take Gaveston by force and the King and his Court, including Mathilde, are forced to flee. As the enemy closes in, Mathilde finds herself embroiled in a life and death struggle for the English crown. What readers are saying about The Poison Maiden: 'This is medieval mystery at its very best' 'A fascinating and illuminating page-turner of a book' 'This is a really good adventure; an atmospheric read, a great story, and lots to think on as you close the last page'

Testing the boundaries between food, poison and medicine is a public show made into a continuing drama of risk and survival. This book is the first to explore the tradition of deliberate poison eating, its practitioners, and the substances that might nourish or kill them. Readers interested in the human history of drugs and medicine, in feats of endurance usually survived and in the play of controlling and regulatory authorities that always accompanies drug and poison use will find Poison Eaters especially appealing.

A teenage assassin kills with a single kiss until she is ordered to kill the one boy she loves. This commercial YA fantasy is romantic and addictive—like a poison kiss—and will thrill fans of Sarah J. Maas and Victoria Aveyard. Marinda has kissed dozens of boys. They all die afterward. It’s a miserable life, but being a visha kanya—a poison maiden—is what she was created to do. Marinda serves the Raja by dispatching his enemies with only her lips as a weapon. Until now, the men she was ordered to kiss have been strangers, enemies of the kingdom. Then she receives orders to kiss Deven, a boy she knows too well to be convinced he needs to die. She begins to question who she’s really working for. And that is a thread that, once pulled, will unravel more than she can afford to lose. This rich, surprising, and accessible debut is based in Indian folklore and delivers a story that will keep readers on the edge of their seats.

The late feminist critic Susan Wood contributes an illuminating inquiry into sexist stereotypes in American popular literature and comicbooks.

It's 1308 and England hovers on the brink of civil war. Edward II, his wife Isabella and the royal favourite Peter Gaveston Earl of Cornwall, have been forced to retreat to the King's folly, as just an arrowshot away lie the Great Lords and Philip IV of France, who are demanding that the Earl of Cornwallbe chargedwith high treason. Edward is trapped, and worse, he has learnt that Philip has the 'Poison Maiden' on his side, a formidable spy who did untold damage during his father's reign. As Edward trys in vein to unmask the identity of the spy, Mathilde, hand maiden to the Queen, also attempts to identify the source of this threat. Soon the crisis spills over into violence. The Lords attempt to take Gaveston by force and the King and his Court, including Mathilde, is forced to flee. As the enemy closes in, Mathilde finds herself embroiledin alife and death strugglefor the English crown.

A gripping and groundbreaking history of how ancient cultures developed and used biological, chemical, and other unconventional weapons of war Flamethrowers, poison gases, incendiary bombs, the large-scale spreading of disease: are these terrifying agents of warfare modern inventions? Not by a long shot. In this riveting history of the origins of unconventional war, Adrienne Mayor shows that cultures around the world have used biological and chemical weapons for thousands of years—and debated the morality of doing so. Drawing extraordinary connections between the mythical worlds of Hercules and the Trojan War, the accounts of Herodotus and Thucydides, and modern methods of war and terrorism, this richly illustrated history catapults readers into the dark and fascinating realm of ancient war and mythic treachery.

First published in 2004. These four classic masterpieces in esoteric research by the noted orientalist - M. Penzer explore customs and traditions from other cultures and periods of history which, for all their apparent strangeness, mask fundamental subjects of continuing interest. The first concerns the motif of the poison damsel -- the beauty who dealt death in many forms to her admirers - which originated in India, was prevalent in medieval Europe, and persists today in the belief of the femme fatale. The volume includes a study in the ancient Tate of the Two Thieves, an essay on sacred prostitution in India, the ancient East and West Africa, and an exhaustive treatment of the custom of chewing the betel or areca nut which is widespread in the far East from India through Indonesia to New Guinea. A natural stimulant and narcotic whose effects are similar to that of tobacco, betel is of growing interest to the medical world, and has, as the author shows here, a rich legacy of customs and belief.