Human history on drugs : an utterly scandalous but entirely truthful look at history under the influence / Sam Kelly.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Kelly, Sam (Samuel Ezra), Author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Drug abuse--History.

Drug abuse.

Drug abusers--History.

Drug abusers.

Physical Description:

x, 382 pages : illustrations ; 21 cm

Other Title:

Utterly scandalous but entirely truthful look at history under the influence

Place of Publication:

New York, NY : Plume, an imprint of Penguin Random House LLC, [2025]

Summary:

"A lively, hilarious, and entirely truthful look at the druggie side of history's most famous figures, including Shakespeare, Queen Victoria, and the Beatles, from debut author (and viral historical TikToker with nearly 100K followers) Sam Kelly Did you know that Alexander the Great was a sloppy drunk, William Shakespeare was a stoner, and George Washington drank a spoonful of opium every night to staunch the pain from his fake teeth? Or how about the fact that China's first emperor, Qin Shi Huangdi, ingested liquid mercury in an (ironic) attempt to live forever, or that Alexander Shulgin, inventor of no less than 230 new psychedelic drugs, was an employee of the DEA? In Human History on Drugs, historian Sam Kelly introduces us to the history we weren't taught in school, offering up irreverent and hysterical commentary as he sheds light on some truly shocking aspects of the historical characters we only thought we knew. With chapters spanning from Ancient Greece ('The Oracle of Delphi Was Huffing Fumes') and the Victorian Era ('Vincent van Gogh Ate Yellow Paint') to Hollywood's Golden Age ('Judy Garland Was Drugged by Grown-Ups') and modern times ('Carl Sagan Got Astronomically High'), Kelly's research spans all manner of eras, places, and, of course, drugs. History is rife with drug use and drug users, and Human History on Drugs takes us through those highs (pun intended) and lows on a wittily entertaining ride that uncovers their seriously unexpected impact on our past"-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Part 1: Ancient potions. The Oracle of Delphi was huffing fumes

Pharoah Ramesses II wanted ganja

Alexander the Great was a sloppy drunk

Qin Shi Huangdi's recipe for immortality backfired

St. John the Revelator was tripping on shrooms

Marcus Aurelius's sleepy-time medicine

Part 2: Medieval highs. The Hashashin, the devout killer potheads

William Shakespeare was a stoner

Part 3: Colonial chaos. George Washington's terrible teeth

Andrew Jackson was a mean, crazy, racist, murderous drunk

Andrew Johnson was blackout drunk

Part 4: Victorian decadence. Samuel Taylor Coleridge's trip wore off

Queen Victoria was the biggest drug dealer of all time

The pope who loved cocaine wine

Friedrich Nietzsche thought he was Jesus

Vincent van Gogh ate yellow paint

Sigmund Freud was wrong about cocaine

Part 5: Wartime fogginess. Adolf Hitler was tweaked out of his mind

Bill W. took LSD to see God

Jean-Paul Sartre's really long bad trip

Richard Nixon wanted to nuke everyone

John F. Kennedy was on all sorts of drugs

Audie Murphy was the real-life Captain America

Part 6: Showbiz blues. Howard Hughes, the drug-addled billionaire

Judy Garland was drugged by grown-ups

Andy Warhol was really fond of meth

Philip K. Dick wrote amphetamine-fueled science fiction

Johnny Cash was battling demons

Elvis Presley was a narc

Part 7: Counterculture mayhem. Albert Hofmann invented LSD by accident

Aldous Huxley's shortcut to enlightenment

How the CIA accidentally created the Unabomber

Ken Kesey and the electric Kool-Aid acid test

Timothy Leary was the most dangerous man in America

Alexander Shulgin, the DEA employee who invented 230 psychedelics

Sgt. Pothead's loaded hard-drug band (a.k.a. the Beatles)

Part 8: Modern mystics. Carl Sagan got astronomically high

Dock Ellis pitched a no-hitter while tripping on acid

John McAfee was the world's biggest troll

Steve Jobs loved LSD and soaking his feet in the toilet.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Other Format:

Online version Kelly, Sam (Samuel Ezra) Human history on drugs

ISBN:

9780593476048

0593476042

OCLC:

1461740787

Publisher Number:

90102261533