Addicted for Five Hundred Years (Drugs and the Formation of the Modern World)

Author: David T. Courtwright (Courtwright, D.T.), translated by Xue Yao
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-01-01
Features: A cigarette, a cup of coffee, a can of cola, a bottle of hard liquor, an ecstasy, a self-narcotizing drug experience, a spiritual history of the modern world. The drugs that gentlemen avoid mentioning have had how much power in history? Why are they classified as legal or illegal? What force drives the popularity of drugs into a massive, diverse commodity trade? This book provides a historical examination from the perspectives of sociology and biology of psychoactive drugs such as coffee, tobacco, tea, opium, and cocaine, showcasing how they were discovered, traded, and profited from, tracing the origins of mass drugs entering the global trade mainstream, revealing the conflicts and compromises between drug use autonomy and national economic systems and social norms. It is one of the most comprehensive works on the cultural history of drugs to date. The author uses the book to remind us that the development of psychotropic drugs and the revolution of spiritual stimulants can lead humanity to extreme psychedelic realms or bring about an inverse utopia. The book is deeply researched, balanced in perspective, and elegantly written, making it a must-read masterpiece that spans both world history and drug history. It provides a broad exploration, rational judgment, and a touch of playful yet serious humor for a topic that is often poorly informed or overly heated.