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Forces of Habit: Drugs and the Making of the Modern World
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Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 909
EAN: 9780674010031
ISBN: 0674010035
Label: Harvard University Press
Manufacturer: Harvard University Press
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 288
Publication Date: October 30, 2002
Publisher: Harvard University Press
Studio: Harvard University Press
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Editorial Review:
What drives the drug trade, and how has it come to be what it is today? A global history of the acquisition of progressively more potent means of altering ordinary waking consciousness, this book is the first to provide the big picture of the discovery, interchange, and exploitation of the planet's psychoactive resources, from tea and kola to opiates and amphetamines. (20010318)
Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Rating: - Kitsch and being caught in a "trap baited with pleasure"
Few commodities can lay claim to such a broad of sub-categories and have had such an impact on the world, as we know it, than drugs (Courtwright 2). Few other commodities have escaped Courtwright's "Drug" definition, which is arguably one of his weaknesses, such as sugar which really need special attention (Courtwright 3, 27-30, and 166). The commodification of al the items Courtwright identifies rival maybe only petroleum in terms of their power vis-à-vis world commerce (Courtwright 42). Courtwright ... Read More
Rating:  - A worthy addition to the Monomaniacal School of historiography
"Forces of Habit: Drugs and the Making of the Modern World" by David T. Courtwright (Harvard University Press, 277 pp, $24.95) is a vivid account of the global spread of psychoactive drugs over the last 500 years. The University of North Florida historian defines drugs broadly enough to include not just the usual suspects like heroin and marijuana, but also generally legal drugs such as tobacco, alcohol and caffeine.
Courtwright's witty writing should appeal to those with a taste for black ... Read More
Rating: - History That's NOT Dull
What fun this book is! Too bad all history books are not so entertaining and informative. We might all benefit from understanding the history of the economics and culture that underpin drug trafficking in the 21st century. If history and economics were always written in such an engaging way, nobody would ever flunk out of History 101 or find it boring.
Rating: - More information than I thought possible
I'm an obscure history buff and when I saw this one it piqued my interest. This is part history, part science and part sociology and the author makes this a more interesting subject than I thought it could be. He starts off with what he calls the Big Three: Alcohol, Tobacco and Caffiene. From there he breaks it further down citing the most popular and not so popular illegal drugs. Mentioning natural stimulants that are unfamiliar to most, such as Qat, Kava and Betel and the very descriptive reasons on why ... Read More
Rating: - Interesting introduction to drugs and commerce.
This book is great fun, not least because of the author's extraordinary skill in the efficient delivery of interesting facts. The opening chapters, which detail the origins of the world's major drugs, are among the most informative I've read.
The second half of the book, while still engrossing, is a less comprehensive historic analysis of drug use and prohibition. Courtwright concentrates on economics at the expense of culture, emphasizing production and commerce rather than demand and moral opposition. ... Read More
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