Authors: R. P. T. Davenport-Hines, Richard Davenport-Hines
Manufacturer: W. W. Norton & Company
A startling account of the history of drug abuse, this book forces us to reconsider many of our views on a controversial issue. Spanning five centuries and several
continents in a sweeping portrait of addiction, The Pursuit of Oblivion traces the history of the use and abuse of narcotics, revealing their subtle transformation from untested medicines to sources of idle pleasure and, relatively recently, to illegal substances. Richard Davenport-Hines, an eminent, prize-winning historian, uncovers the centrality of drug abuse in our modern industrial society, from the drug habits of Charles Dickens and
John F. Kennedy to today's $400 billion annual worldwide trade in illicit drugs (the same…
It is rare to find a nonfiction book that, if read, will render the reading of other books on the topic almost superfluous. Yet that is the case with "Pursuit of Oblivion." Richard Davenport-Hines has… This 498 page compendium of stories that go back thousands of years (to Sumer), detail in extraordinary (sometimes stifling) detail, mankinds continuous love hate relationship with
intoxication. Be it…
