WRITTEN IN BLOOD A History of Forensic Detection.

Wilson (Colin)

ISBN 10: 1853360554 / ISBN 13: 9781853360558

Published by Equation., 1989

About this Item

Hardback. A massive and compelling history of forensic crime detection, from poisoners in ancient Rome to modern serial murderers. The history of forensic detection is in fact a demonstration of how the smallest details can lead to momentous results. Time and again it is the tiniest scraps of evidence that yield results, and Colin Wilson recounts some of the most extraordinary of these in often gruesome details, such as the Ruxton case of the 1930s. The author presents a gripping catalogue of case studies charting the progress of forensic science from the first attempts at detecting arsenic to today's impressive armoury of techniques, such as ballistics analysis, blood typing, voice printing, textile analysis, psychological profiling and genetic fingerprinting. Illus., Select Bibliog. and Index. 512pp. lge. 8vo. h/back. With previous owner's name and date insc. to fep, browned pp. o/w Vg. in sl. sunned Vg+ dw. A fairly heavy book which will require additional postage.

Seller Inventory # 10466

Bibliographic Details

• Title: WRITTEN IN BLOOD A History of Forensic Detection.
• Publisher: Equation.
• Publication Date: 1989
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1853360554
• ISBN 13: 9781853360558
• Binding: Hardcover / Hardback
• Edition: First edition.
• Condition: Very Good
• Dust Jacket Condition: Very Good
• Seller catalogs:
  • Forensic & Criminology

About this title

Synopsis

In 44 B.C.E. a Roman doctor named Antistius performed the first autopsy recorded in history on the corpse of murder victim Julius Caesar. However, not until the nineteenth century did the systematic application of scientific knowledge to crime detection seriously begin, so that a tiny scrap of evidence might yield astonishing results like the single horsehair that betrayed the sex murderer in New York's 1936 Nancy Titterton case. In this massive history of forensic detection, the internationally recognized criminologist Colin Wilson charts the progress of criminalistics from the first attempts at detecting arsenic to the development of an impressive array of such modern techniques as ballistic analysis, blood typing, voice printing, textile analysis, psychological profiling & genetic fingerprinting. Wilson also explores the alarmingly modern phenomenon of serial sex crime with a discussion of notorious cases that includes Jack the Ripper, Lucie Berlin, Mary Phagan, the Black Dahlia, Charles Manson & Peter Sutcliffe, the so-called Yorkshire Ripper. Wilson shows how increasing sophistication of forensic detection & the introduction of computerized information retrieval has increasingly stacked the odds against the sex killer. Whatever the case, Written in Blood never fails to enlighten & intrigue.