Milk of Paradise by Lucy Inglis

Milk of Paradise by Lucy Inglis

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 an agricultural product 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.

Lucy Inglis is the author of the award-winning Georgian London blog and the shortlisted author for the History Today Longman Award for her book of the same name. She has also written two young adult novels, including City of Halves, which was nominated for the Carnegie Medal and the Branford Boase Award. She is based in London.