A global history of intoxication, exploring the international spectrum of drug use in cultures across the world, from prehistory to the present day.
Every society is a high society. Every day, people drink coffee on European terraces, chew betel nut in Indonesian markets, take coca leaf on Andean mountainsides and smoke tobacco in every nation on earth. Mike Jays global history of intoxication looks at the earliest archaeological evidence of drug use, the botanicals of the classical world, the mind-bending self-experiments of early scientists and today's war on drugs.
In High Society Jay paints vivid portraits of the roles that drugs play as medicines, religious sacraments, status symbols and trade goods. He traces the understanding of intoxicants from prehistory to the present, and reveals how the international trade in substances such as tobacco, tea and opium shaped the modern world. First published to accompany the highly successful exhibition at the Wellcome Collection, London, and now featuring a new preface, this striking and lyrical book remains one of the most complete explorations of drug use in cultures across the world.
- 186 pages
- English
- ePUB (mobile friendly)
- Available on iOS & Android
eBook - ePub
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Information
Subtopic
Social HistoryIndex
HistoryTable of contents
- Cover
- Title Page
- About the Author
- Contents
- Preface
- 1. A Universal Impulse: Drugs and cultures
- Plates Section One
- 2. From Apothecary To Laboratory: Drugs, medicines and pharmacy
- 3. The Psychoactive Revolution: Drugs, trade and control
- Plates Section Two
- Notes and Further Reading
- Acknowledgments
- Picture Credits
- Index
- Copyright
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Yes, you can access High Society by Mike Jay in PDF and/or ePUB format, as well as other popular books in History & Social History. We have over 1.5 million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.