Cocaine

Global Histories

Edited by Paul Gootenberg

Price: $38.95

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About the Book

Orginally a medical miracle, cocaine is now a dangerous pariah drug. Cocaine: Global Histories examines the rise and fall of this notorious substance. In the nineteenth century it was openly legal and legitimately used by scientists, doctors and pharmaceutical giants alike. This contrasts starkly with the international prohibitionist regimes and underground circuits linked to cocaine today.
Drawing on exciting new global perspectives, Cocaine analyses and rethinks the origins of the modern drug cocaine. For the first time, a book brings together the world's leading writers on the history of cocaine. Themes explored include:
· the early manufacture, sale and control of cocaine in the United States;
· Amsterdam's complex cocaine network;
· Japan and the unknown Southeast Asian cocaine industry;
· export of cocaine prohibitions to Peru;
· sex, drugs and race in London.
Cocaine unveils new sources and covert social, cultural and political transformations that shed light on cocaine's hidden history. This volume is essential reading for anyone concerned with the place of drugs in the modern world.