| Description |
x, 366 pages, 16 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations ; 24 cm |
| Contents |
INTRODUCTION -- THE JUICE -- Petrified buns -- The magical seepage -- A gift of the gods -- Rival brews -- Affyon -- The sleepy sponge -- Greater than Celsus? -- The tincture and the powder -- On the banks of the Ganges -- The Turkish connection -- Romantic opium -- The pleasure dome of Xanadu -- The opium eaters -- The people -- A salve for all ailments -- THE ESSENCE -- The shape of dreams -- The most wicked of wars: The Celestial Kingdom, The First Opium War, The Second Opium War -- The Yellow Peril -- Doctors rule -- American voices -- Nervous waste -- A heroic substance -- The birth of a crusade -- War and Peace (of sorts) -- Victims and survivors -- Unholy alliances -- Junkies -- Guardians of the law -- Zero tolerance -- God's own medicine -- Treatments and cures -- Life and death of a drug lord -- The making of a modern narco-state -- New trails: old tribulations. |
| Summary |
Opium and its derivatives morphine and heroin have destroyed, corrupted and killed individuals, families, communities and even whole nations. And yet, for most of its long history, opium has also been humanity's most effective means of alleviating physical and mental pain. This extraordinary book encompasses the entire history of the world's most fascinating drug, from the first evidence of poppy cultivation by stone-age man to the present-day opium trade in Afghanistan. |
| Bibliography |
Includes bibliographical references and index. |
| Subject |
Opium abuse -- History.
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Opium trade -- History.
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Opium -- History.
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| ISBN |
9780300175325 cloth alkaline paper |
|
0300175329 cloth alkaline paper |
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