Heavenly Milk: A Global History of Opium

One of the Cape of Good Hope series. Opium is a drug that has both healed and harmed humanity since the dawn of civilization. For thousands of years, people have been enslaved by this “milk of paradise.” Renowned cultural historian Lucy Inglis takes readers on an epic journey from ancient Mesopotamia to modern America and Afghanistan, from Sanskrit to slang, and from the tears of the poppy to narcotics, from morphine to today’s synthetic opioids. She recounts the long and complex history of the world’s most fascinating yet dangerous plant, the poppy, and its synthetic derivatives. This is a story of addiction, trade, war, literature, medicine, and, above all, money.