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Opium: A History
by
Martin Booth
Known to mankind since prehistoric times, opium is arguably the oldest and most widely used narcotic. Opium: A History traces the drug's astounding impact on world culture-from its religious use by prehistoric peoples to its influence on the imaginations of the Romantic writers; from the earliest medical science to the Sino-British opium wars. And, in the present da...more
Paperback, 400 pages
Published
June 12th 1999
by St. Martin's Griffin
(first published 1996)
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I found myself alternately crazy bored and truly engaged with Booth’s narrative. Essentially he tries to cover everything regarding this subject and does an admirable job – stuffing 4.54 kilograms of crap into a five pound bag, so to speak. Whereas I was less engrossed with the quite detailed technical descriptions of opium harvesting and processing early on, budding criminal scientist types no doubt want more. Overall, the author weaves together a story encompassing addicted 18th century Brits,...more
I picked this up after hearing it be recommended on the radio during an interview with someone who apparently was a local heroin dealer. It's one of the best and most lucid examinations of "the drug war" and how drug wars in general have played a pivotal role at various points in modern history. It's a must read. Now, if I could only find MY copy again...
Blah!! This is a skimmer. Not particularly interesting in the way Booth tells a sweeping and sometimes trivia-like story about a possibly very intriguing topic. I see why my school library got rid of this title.
Read this several years ago.
I found it just fascinating. I was really engrossed by the history of the drug's spread and how it affected societies around the globe in the past.
I found it just fascinating. I was really engrossed by the history of the drug's spread and how it affected societies around the globe in the past.
informative at the forefront, but then it jumped around too much, sorted in chapters by the facets and affects of opium (on history, economically, socially etc.) when it would have been easier to follow if it went through those affects chronologically.
"For the consumer nation, opiate addiction is a major health threat, a socially destructive, crime-orientated problem which can also undermine economic and even political stability. Yet for the poppy-producing nation, opium is often the only sure means of a secure income for a large part of the population and a primary source of foreign currency for the state. The fight against drugs in one country is an attack of the well-being of another and is but a part of the eternal tussle between t...more
As stated all over the cover, this book is well researched. Exhaustively researched, even exhaustingly researched. The editor would have benefited from being a bit more selective with his information. I think I was hoping for a little more of a writer and less of a researcher when I picked this up. In the first few chapters, Booth does a great job combining data with his own observations regarding the cultural significance of the poppy and it's poultice, but that doesn't happen nearly as muc...more
Amazing how much one commodity shaped world history. Opium is a defining feature in the financial rise of London & Holland in the 18th - 19th Century (the banking centers of the world) and the social, moral and political decline in China from the 18th Century until the Communist Revolution in 1950. Not the most flowing story ever told, but fascinating and well-researched.
So far I have learned how to get opium from the poppy and probably make opium water. Result!
A lot of interesting facts and information. It held my interest even in the slow sections.
Certain parts are simply more engaging than others, and there is certainly something lacking, but it's nonetheless a readable history
This is a facinating look at the history of opium.
Shelly
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Martin Booth writes strong, pacy adventures with compelling storylines. His work is dramatic, cinematic and well-researched. If you're looking for a gripping read (with guaranteed boy appeal), you're in the right hands!
THE BASICS
Born: Lancashire, 1944
Jobs: Screenwriter, Novelist
Lives: Somerset
First Book for Children: War Dog, 1996
More about Martin Booth...
THE BASICS
Born: Lancashire, 1944
Jobs: Screenwriter, Novelist
Lives: Somerset
First Book for Children: War Dog, 1996
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