Opium: A Portrait of the Heavenly Demon

Opium holds a near mythical place in the drug pantheon with its connotations of mystery, languor & sinister beauty. Hodgson has created an exotic book that stands as the first history of opium culture. Here, she traces the path of opium s creation & consumption, & describes how it has been rhapsodized, demonized & anointed. Opium fueled the vision of artists, writers & poets, incl. Cocteau, Baudelaire & Wilde. And though frowned upon by much of 19th-cent. society, opium was still used in 100s of commonly consumed patent medicines. Today, opium remains one of the most widely trafficked drugs in the world. The book includes an amazing array of archival photos, rare engravings, movie stills & lurid dime-store book & magazine covers.