  | Book Details Title: Killer High: A History of War in Six Drugs |
Book DescriptionReview “Since time immemorial, soldiers have consumed mind-altering substances; Andreas (International Studies/Brown Univ.; Smuggler Nation: How Illicit Trade Made America, 2013, etc.) delivers an impressive, often unsettling history of six.” –Kirkus “Killer High is a captivating book, laced with provocative insights about the enduring relationship between drugs and war and further enlivened with entertaining flashes of wit.”—Andrew Bacevich, author of The Age of Illusions: How Americans Squandered Their Cold War Victory “Peter Andreas always writes about captivating topics, but his take on the combination of violence and drugs may be his best yet. This is a history of conflict and capitalism and how the two are intertwined. It also provides a fascinating perspective on consumer behavior and the creation of our drugged culture. Beautifully written, this book is both scholarly and wonderfully entertaining. A great read!”—Miguel A. Centeno, Vice Dean and Musgrave Professor of Sociology, Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, Princeton University “Ingeniously plotted, briskly written, and strikingly illustrated, Killer High delivers a kaleidoscopic trip through the history of drugs and war. Peter Andreas looks at the drug-war relationship from every angle: how combatants and noncombatants used drugs; how wars were fought through, for, or against drugs; and how wars shaped the fates of drugs, often speeding their rise as global commodities.”—David Courtwright, author of Forces of Habit and The Age of Addiction “Killer High frees history from the names-and-dates straightjacket and looks more deeply at why we fight. From the drinking binges of Alexander the Great to anti-drug campaigns in Afghanistan and Latin America, it illuminates the hidden relationship between drugs and war. By reimagining the past so insightfully, it helps us understand the conflicts of today and tomorrow.”—Stephen Kinzer, Senior Fellow in International and Public Affairs, Watson Institute, Brown University, and former foreign correspondent, New York Times “Peter Andreas is that rare political scientist who can weave serious and compelling historical arguments and who writes with the breadth and clarity of a public intellectual. Killer High is a killer book—the definitive work on the history of drugs and warfare.”—Paul Gootenberg, Stony Brook University, author of Andean Cocaine: The Making of a Global Drug “Peter Andreas…has drawn from an impressive and eclectic mix of sources to give psychoactive and addictive drugs a fuller place in discussions of war. His book steps back from the headlines to draw a full arc that reads as both complement and counterpoint to enduring fables and simplistic accounts surrounding wars and nations you may think you know. Organized into six main chapters on the varied drugs-war relationships – one each for alcohol, tobacco, caffeine, opium, speed and cocaine – it offers a fascinating interpretive lens for drugs’ roles in making war and, in turn, wars’ roles in spreading drugs around the world.” —C.J. Chivers, New York Times Read more About the Author Peter Andreas is the John Hay Professor of International Studies at Brown University, where he holds a joint appointment between the Department of Political Science and the Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs. Andreas has published ten books, including Smuggler Nation: How Illicit Trade Made America. He has also written for publications such as Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, The Guardian, Harper’s, The Nation, The New Republic, Slate, The New York Times, and The Washington Post. A graduate of Swarthmore College and Cornell University, he lives with his family in Providence, Rhode Island. Read more Customers Review:Peter Andreas takes us on a journey through time and space of six carefully selected drugs :alcohol, nicotine, caffeine, amphetamines, opium and cocaine, that were used in wars. These drugs have been the main reason some wars were waged, such as the two Opium Wars fought by the British, on behalf of their East India Company, during the Nineteenth Century. The Chinese military was easily defeated both times, which resulted in opium being forced upon the Chinese people and Hong Kong being ceded to the British (which city has been returned to Chinese control in recent decades.Soldiers on the battlefield needed their tobacco, usually in the convenient form of cigarettes, a source of stress relief. In various wars over the past few centuries soldiers had to have their caffeine, whether through tea, coffee or soft drinks, to give them more energy and endurance and alertness. Amphetamines also was used by militaries to increase performance of warriors. Alcohol too appeared on battlefields, perhaps as vodka, rum, beer whiskey, but this drug had the negative side effect of reducing performance. Around the turn of the Twentieth Century opium started to fall into disfavor by militaries and civilian populations, though the drug is now widely traded in various forms worldwide for recreational reasons. Cocaine too is now a recreational drug globally, especially in developed nations like the United States.The book is richly illustrated with photos, cartoons, sketches and posters from relevant times and places. Well researched and footnoted. A required read. | |
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