Non-Fiction Review: The Poisoner by Stephen Bates

I need to read more history books for two reasons. First, I loved history long before I became obsessed with altering it. Second, to be a good alternate historian you need to know your history. Otherwise, how would you know how to craft a plausible timeline? So with that being said, let's talk about The Poisoner by Stephen Bates.

The Poisoner tells the story of William Palmer, a notorious murderer from 1850s Britain. Palmer was a doctor and gambler who was convicted of poisoning his friend John Cook. He is suspected, however, of murdering many others including his brother, mother-in-law, wife and many of his children, and collecting the life insurance after their deaths. Although he never confessed to the crime, Palmer was found guilty and executed.

Palmer's trial, however, is used by the author as a framing device for a better look at British culture of the decade. We see a growing middle class, a cultural obsession with horse racing (and the gambling that went with it) and an increasingly literate population, fueling the rise of newspapers. Palmer's murder trial became a sensation that reached the far corners of the globes, which is a surprising feat considering this was before the age of the Internet and the 24-hour news cycle. The trial was followed by famous contemporaries such as Charles Dickens and Queen Victoria and references to it found their way into some of our great works of fiction.

Still if this book has one flaw it is probably the inordinate amount of time spent on British culture rather than the murder trial itself. Bates, a journalist, also diverts quite a bit to discuss the history of his profession, which is understandable, but can be a slog for a casual student of history. I think he may have been going for a style reminiscent of The Devil in the White City, which intertwined the tales of America's first serial killer and the 1893 World's Fair, but didn't quite pull it off. The Poisoner is a much denser tome than The Devil in the White City, which makes it harder to read unless you are the type who enjoys a lot of details in your history books.

So did Palmer do it? To Bates credit he presents a more balanced look at the infamous murderer's life. He points out how badly the trial was handled (even by that era's standards) and how the media's coverage of the trial unfairly prejudiced the entire nation against the accused. Still, the evidence does seem damning, but perhaps by today's standards Palmer could have at least avoided the hangman's noose.

The Poisoner is a great book for those looking for details, such as someone writing a steampunk story, on Britain in the early Victorian Era. Casual readers may be put off my the amount of details Bates packs in, but otherwise I found it to be an interesting chapter of British history and it has whetted my appetite for more history. Perhaps I will check out Truman by David McCullough next...

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Matt Mitrovich is the founder and editor of Alternate History Weekly Update and a blogger on Amazing Stories. Check out his short fiction. When not writing he works as an attorney, enjoys life with his beautiful wife Alana and prepares for the inevitable zombie apocalypse. You can follow him on Facebook or Twitter.

March 2013: Steampunk Writing Contest

The people have spoken and we at The Update have listened. The writing contest theme for the month of March will be Steampunk.

Do I really need to explain to you what steampunk is? Did you not hear about IBM's prediction of how steampunk is going to be the next  big fashion trend? Good, I'm glad we are all on the same page.

Here are the rules:

• Submissions should be between 500 to 3000 words. We are open to accepting submissions over 3000 depending on their quality, but they may be split into separate parts if possible.
• We are accepting submissions for three categories: fiction (original stories written by you), non-fiction (counterfactual essays) and reviews (books, film, television, etc.) based on steampunk.
• Submission period begins today and posting will begin March 5. The submission period ends on the 28th.
• All submissions must be sent by email with something either in the subject or body of email stating this is for the March theme.
• All submissions must meet the theme for the contest but we will not stop accepting articles for the month of March that do not meet the theme. We reserve the right, however, to postpone publication if we receive articles for the theme.
• All other rules regarding contributing to AH Weekly Update remain in effect.

To encourage you all to submit articles for this contest, the person who generates the most page views in their category will a copy of the new US edition of The Afrika Reich by Guy Saville, courtesy of Henry Holt. Here is a brief description of the novel:

Africa, 1952. More than a decade has passed since Britain’s humiliation at Dunkirk brought an end to the war and the beginning of an uneasy peace with Hitler. 

The swastika flies from the Sahara to the Indian Ocean. Britain and a victorious Nazi Germany have divided the continent. The SS has crushed the native populations and forced them into labor. Gleaming autobahns bisect the jungle, jet fighters patrol the skies. For almost a decade an uneasy peace has ensued.

Now, however, the plans of Walter Hochburg, messianic racist and architect of Nazi Africa, threaten Britain’s ailing colonies. 

Sent to curb his ambitions is Burton Cole: a one-time assassin torn between the woman he loves and settling an old score with Hochburg. If he fails unimaginable horrors will be unleashed on the continent. No one – black or white – will be spared. 

But when his mission turns to disaster, Burton must flee for his life. 

It is a flight that will take him from the unholy ground of Kongo to SS slave camps to war-torn Angola – and finally a conspiracy that leads to the dark heart of The Afrika Reich itself.

WARNING: Any suspected cheating will immediately disqualify the contributor and there will be no appeals.  You are encouraged to promote your work through social media, but if I see that someone has clicked a link to an article 100 times in a minute I am going to obviously suspect foul play.

If you any questions email me at ahwupdate at gmail dot com. Don't forget our February contest is still open for submissions and I will be posting the first entry on Wednesday.

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Matt Mitrovich is the founder and editor of Alternate History Weekly Update, a blogger on Amazing Stories and a volunteer editor for Alt Hist magazine. His fiction can be found at Echelon Press, Jake's Monthly and The Were-Traveler. When not writing he works as an attorney, enjoys life with his beautiful wife Alana and prepares for the inevitable zombie apocalypse. You can follow him on Facebook or Twitter.