This was an interesting read about the history of Opium and addiction. The author traces the use of opium through the ages. The author has done a lot of research and keeps her subject interesting. I really enjoyed the chapter on the authors who used opium to help them write. As the author shows Opium will be always be available. Despite the subject the book is easy to read. Enjoy

Most of the information in this book has nothing to do with opium, it’s about everything else but the history of opium. I get that other aspects have a tangent relationship to it but pages after pages about other stuff with a sentence or two throwing a random tidbit about opium makes this book longer than necessary. It’s more of a book about the history of trading. Giving the title of the book I would have thought it to be way more focused on the history of opium.

Lucy Ignlis gives a solid history of the use of opium, how it is created from the poppy and it's existence in the whole world. Inglis does a great job of making the materials accessible and the sometimes painful history interesting.

"Comprehensive" seems cheap for this sweeping tome that explains so much of the lead-up to the crisis we find ourselves in. Well researched and a great resource for any historian's library.