Andrew Smith was born in Liverpool, England and now lives in Toronto and London. He has taken creative writing courses at the University of Toronto, and has also graduated as a graphic designer. His short fiction has appeared in some of the most repected literary magazines in North America. He has published two non-fiction books: Strangers in the Garden, an illustrated history of flowers and Highlights, an illustrated history of cannabis. He is also an award-winning travel writer. Edith’s War, his first novel, won a gold medal for fiction at the Independent Publisher's Awards in New York. His second novel, The Speech, was published by Urbane Publications in United Kingdom in October, 2016.
Though I don't know enough on the topic to verify how accurate it is, it certainly makes for an interesting/very easy read...I had no idea how many tonnes of hemp they needed for a warships sail back in yonder year etc...it also broadened my horizons..I watched the movie it referenced 'reefer madness' on youtube afterwards, giving me a better perspective of just how demonized the drug was throughout the 20th century. Also, a cartoon in the book contains the word rannygazoo, a superb word which I'd only previously heard in a song Frontier Psychiatrist by The Avalanches...the video for that song can almost certainly relate to this book! Sorry to wander off topic... great book!