Milk of Paradise

A History of Opium

De: Lucy Inglis

Narrado por: Colleen Prendergast

Poppy tears, opium, heroin, fentanyl: humankind has been in thrall to the ‘Milk of Paradise’ for millennia. The latex of papaver somniferum is a bringer of sleep, of pleasurable lethargy, of relief from pain - and hugely addictive. A commodity without rival, it is renewable; easy to extract, transport and refine; and subject to an insatiable global demand.

No other substance in the world is as simple to produce or as profitable. It is the basis of a gargantuan industry built upon a shady underworld, but ultimately it is a farm-gate material that lives many lives before it reaches the branded blister packet, the intravenous drip or the scorched and filthy spoon. Many of us will end our lives dependent on it.

In Milk of Paradise, acclaimed cultural historian Lucy Inglis takes readers on an epic journey from ancient Mesopotamia to modern America and Afghanistan, from Sanskrit to pop, from poppy tears to smack, from morphine to today’s synthetic opiates. It is a tale of addiction, trade, crime, sex, war, literature, medicine and, above all, money. And, as this ambitious, wide-ranging and compelling account vividly shows, the history of opium is our history, and it speaks to us of who we are.

©2018 Lucy Inglis (P)2018 Audible, Ltd

Historical gold mine....

Nicely narrated and well researched. Plenty of information to divulge on. Opioid abuse will be a hard subject to deal with if we can't look at what brought us to this point. Amazing book. I plan on listening to it perhaps thrice.

Gods eyeballs are mankinds salvation

The long history of Opium as a problem is a reflection of modern man's escapist culture.
The pain relief roperties of ingesting opium is a gift from nature.

Well researched, comprehensive history of one of the most useful and complicated plants in the history of man

Very well written topic that could be relatively dry was brought to life with facts and history. That were absolutely fascinating. Well worth the time for both the physician and the user regardless of your background and history if you’ve had any contact with the opium poppy and it’s derivatives this Read is well worth your time

Fascinating approach to history

I found the book well researched and informative. While the narrator was very good, my only complaint was that her English accent was a bit hard to understand. However, I highly recommend the book.

those who don't learn from history are doomed...

The sweep of this history was a bit overwhelming, from Marco Polo to the current day, but it picked up as it progressed. The story is is full of examples from many eras of how the effort to restrict access to opiates had the opposite effect. I only wish the author had integrated these patterns of opium use, abuse and regulation and had explored alternative ideas that may not have been tried.