You may have to Search all our reviewed books and magazines, click the sign up button below to create a free account.
The mere fact of its having survived from at least the twelfth century (some claimed for it an earlier, Saxon pedigree) lent the inquest the trappings of an exemplary embodiment of the 'genius of English reform.'"--from Bodies of Evidence
Essays explore forensic science in global and historical context, opening a critical window onto contemporary debates about the universal validity of present-day genomic forensic practices. Contemporary forensic science has achieved unprecedented visibility as a compelling example of applied expertise. But the common public view—that we are living in an era of forensic deliverance, one exemplified by DNA typing—has masked the reality: that forensic science has always been unique, problematic, and contested. Global Forensic Cultures aims to rectify this problem by recognizing the universality of forensic questions and the variety of practices and institutions constructed to answer them. G...
The authors tell the engrossing history of how, in the first half of the twentieth century, novel routines, regulations, and techniques--from chain-of-custody procedures to the analysis of hair, blood, and fiber--fundamentally transformed the processing of murder scenes. Focusing on two iconic English investigations--the 1924 case of Emily Kaye, who was beaten and dismembered by her lover at a lonely beachfront holiday cottage, and the 1953 investigation into John Christie's serial murders in his dingy terraced home in London's West End--Burney and Pemberton chart the emergence of the crime scene as a new space of forensic activity.
"In this book, Ian Burney embeds discussions about the relationship between medico-legal expertise and its wider cultural context in an account of several celebrated poisoning trials, focusing in particular on the 1856 case of William Palmer. A rogue doctor, gambler, forger, adulterer and serial murderer, Palmer served as the apogee of the Victorian poisoner, and ultimately called into question the capacity of the poison detective to satisfy the demands of his public." "Burney has produced an exemplary work of interdisciplinary history, mixing a keen understanding of the social and cultural landscape of the period with the histories of science, medicine and the law. Blending rigorous scholarship with riveting stories from the annals of crime, Poison, Detection, and the Victorian Imagination will appeal to an interdisciplinary professional audience, and to all those interested in the darker side of Victorian society." --Book Jacket.
As elected coroners came to be replaced by medical examiners with scientific training, the American public became fascinated with their work. From the grisly investigations showcased on highly rated television shows like C.S.I. to the bestselling mysteries that revolve around forensic science, medical examiners have never been so visible—or compelling. They, and they alone, solve the riddle of suspicious death and the existential questions that come with it. Why did someone die? Could it have been prevented? Should someone be held accountable? What are the implications of ruling a death a suicide, a homicide, or an accident? Can medical examiners unmask the perfect crime? Postmortem goes d...
Presenting a new way of thinking about the risks of medical innovation, this volume considers the issues from a social historical perspective, and studies specific cases in their respective contexts.
DIV A collection of ten essays paired with substantial prefaces, this book chronicles and contextualizes Roger Cooter’s contributions to the history of medicine. Through an analysis of his own work, Cooter critically examines the politics of conceptual and methodological shifts in historiography. In particular, he examines the “double bind” of postmodernism and biological or neurological modeling that, together, threaten academic history. To counteract this trend, suggests Cooter, historians must begin actively locating themselves in the problems they consider. The essays and commentaries constitute a kind of contour map of history’s recent trends and trajectories—its points of passage to the present—and lead both to a critical account of the discipline’s historiography and to an examination of the role of intellectual frameworks and epistemic virtues in the writing of history. /div
‘Dazzling...full of special delights. Harman excels in the vivid presentation of scenes, the selection of detail...[a] marvellous and beautifully written book.’ Elspeth Barker, Independent on Sunday
Ordinary Lives, Death, and Social Class focuses on the evolution of the Dublin City Coroner's Court and on Dr Louis A. Bryne's first two years in office. Wrapping itself around the 1901 census, the study uses gender, power, and blame as analytical frameworks to examine what inquests can tell us about the impact of urban living from lifecycle and class perspectives. Coroners' inquests are a combination of eyewitness testimony, expert medico-legal language, detailed minutiae of people, places, and occupational identities pinned to a moment in time. Thus they have a simultaneous capacity to reveal histories from both above and below. Rich in geographical, socio-economic, cultural, class, and medical detail, these records collated in a liminal setting about the hour of death bear incredible witness to what has often been termed 'ordinary lives'. The subjects of Dr Byrne's court were among the poorest in Ireland and, apart from common medical causes problems linked to lower socio-economic groups, this volume covers preventable cases of workplace accidents, neglect, domestic abuse, and homicide.
Multidisciplinary collection of essays on the relationship of infertility and the "historic" STIs--gonorrhea, chlamydia, and syphilis--producing surprising new insights in studies from across the globe and spanning millennia.