Brain-Robbers: How Alcohol, Cocaine, Nicotine, and Opiates Have Changed Human History (Praeger Series on Contemporary Health and Living) - Hardcover

"Brain-Robbers is a wonderful book of great importance. . . . [It] provides a splendid trip through the brain, culture, and pharmacology of addictions." - PsycCRITIQUES "Brain-Robbers is an engaging overview of how individuals, governments, and societies have interacted with four major drugs of use, abuse, and trade over the course of human history. This . . . makes the book's scope unique. . . . comprehensive and engaging. The inclusion of numerous historical anecdotes and asides makes a potentially dry history relevant to a modern worldview. The writing is nontechnical . . . Overall, this is a useful introduction to the human history of drug use. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Lower- and upper-division undergraduates and general readers." - Choice

A psychiatrist examines how the world's four most important mind-altering substances- alcohol, cocaine, nicotine, and opiates-have played a significant role throughout human history, and explains how these powerful drugs affect the brain and cause addiction. * Presents a historical review of four plant-derived drugs-alcohol, cocaine, nicotine, and opiates-and their effects throughout human civilization, as well as a fascinating exploration of the mystery and misery of addiction * Provides comprehensive explanations of medical and psychiatric effects of these drugs * Supplies stories of people who made discoveries about these drugs or who had their lives altered by them * Describes the discovery of the way in which the brain works * Includes illustrations of brain pathways and of the four plants of origin for these drugs, and maps showing drug trade triangles