High Society: The Central Role of Mind-Altering Drugs in History, Science, and Culture
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | 4.97 (606 Votes) |
| Asin | : | 1594773939 |
| Format Type | : | paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 192 Pages |
| Publish Date | : | 2013-11-28 |
| Language | : | English |
DESCRIPTION:
This is anything but a dry recounting. Well illustrated–literally–are the roles drugs play as medicines, religious sacraments, status symbols, and trade goods. Arthur, author of Salvia Divinorum: Doorway to Thought-Free Awareness) . This is no dry, academic account, but a colorful, cross–cultural history of people, as well as birds and animals, seeking pain relief, enjoyment, creativity, or enlightenment through plants. “I encourage you to read High Society to get a different perspective; one of research and historical facts before making a decision of what side you are taking. This is a good read and a good knowledge base for further contemplation and personal research.” (Irene Watson, Reader Views, November 2010
From the botanicals of the classical world through the mind-bending self-experiments of 18th- and 19th-century scientists to the synthetic molecules that have transformed our understanding of the brain, Mike Jay reveals how drugs such as tobacco, tea, and opium drove the global trade and cultural exchange that created the modern world and examines the forces that led to the prohibition of opium and cocaine a century ago and the “war on drugs” that rages today.. Exploring the spectrum of drug use throughout history--from its roots in animal intoxication to its future in designer neurochemicals--High Society paints vivid portraits of the roles drugs play in different cultures as medicines, religious sacraments, status symbols, and coveted trade goods. Every day people drink coffee on European terraces and kava in Pacific villages; chew betel nut in Indonesian markets and coca leaf on Andean mountainsides; swallow ecstasy tablets in the clubs of Amsterdam and opium pills in the deserts of Rajastan; smoke hashish in Himalayan temples and tobacco and marijuana in every nation on earth. An illustrated cultural history of drug use from its roots in animal intoxication to its future in designer neurochemicals • Featuring artwork from the upcoming Hi
The author of Artificial Paradises, Emperors of Dreams, and The Atmosphere of Heaven, his critical writing on drugs has appeared in many publications, including The Guardian, The Telegraph, and The International Journal of Drug Policy. . He sits on the editorial board of the addiction journal Drugs and Alcohol Today and on the board of the Transform D
A Core Human Activity Examined Historically Neither a dry academic treatise nor a strident advocacy, Jay's book is a very well-illustrated cultural and historical survey of the use of natural, purified, and synthesized psychoactive substances by every society around the globe, from deep rain forests to mountain peaks, from modern cities to desert oases. The book follows the exhibit under the same title presented at the famous Wellcome Collection in History of Medicine in London, England. Besides the spiritual and religious use (entheogens), the consumption of. a loverly book Renato Baserga on the use and spread of so-called recreational drugs. From the ancients to modern times. The various drugs are presented objectively, simply for what they are, no more and no less. You can find out in this book that no one controlled the use of recreational drugs until USA came into the fray and passed so many laws one does no longer know how to use them even in medicine. But it also narrates how opium was imported to China and used effectively by Europeans (especially the British) to destroy the Chinese society. I. Four Stars Debbie I thought this was a very good book.