You worked hard. The outdoor chores are done.
Your household tasks are also finished, you are home for the evening, and you know what would taste good right now. You can almost feel an icy-cold glass in your hand, condensation wetting your fingers. You can taste it, can’t you? As in the new book, “Human History on Drugs” by Sam Kelly, it’ll be historically epic.
Dates and names, battles and acts. In the past, that may be what you learned about history, which might make you think that the subject is “dull and lifeless.” Sam Kelly didn’t want to know about boring things; he wanted to read something more interesting, more “dramatic,” and maybe a little gossipy, so he created this book.
As it turns out, “many historical figures were on drugs” of one sort or another.
Imagine, for instance, the surprise that was waiting for archaeologists studying the tomb of Ramses the Great. Hiding in the pharaoh’s abdominal cavity were a scattering of grains cannabis pollen.
And speaking of “Great,” there was Alexander. Kelly says old Alex liked to imbibe. Oh, and the warrior was “also a big fan of opium.” either of which could have hastened his death.
William Shakespeare was “a stoner” who wrote about drugs in subtle and clever ways to get around church laws of the time. George Washington took laudanum – an opiate tincture – not for pleasure, but to manage the pain of ill-fitting dentures; the teenage Queen Victoria also liked laudanum but her “personal preferences” for fun were cocaine chewing gum and wine. The Nazis claimed to be anti-drug but they “made a special exception” for meth. World War II hero Audie Murphy was addicted to sleeping pills at one time. Pope Leo XII loved cocaine wine so much that he appeared in an advertisement for it. And Richard Nixon, who started the “War on Drugs” obviously didn’t mean it to include himself…
In his introduction, author Sam Kelly makes a promise to readers that he doesn’t glorify the use of drugs or alcohol here, a promise he’s kept inside “Human History on Drugs.” Instead, he’s honest about how such substances have affected history. He’s fun, flippant, and playful about it, and he invites readers to engage in that pure lack of stuffiness.
And yet, despite the light tone here, what you’ll read is real, actual history, albeit from a back side that you may not have learned in your high school history class. Kelly writes about battles and world issues, conquered nations, personal flaws, and events of which his subjects surely had to be mindful, thus time-framing their substance abuse without condoning it. Readers will be sympathetic while enjoying some of the stories here, astounded at others, and gleeful at the ones that are humorously, wonderfully outrageous.
Readers who devour history books will appreciate that this is a good in-between book to read after and before heavy-duty tomes. It’s great for anyone who wants nonfiction lite, including older teens. Truly, to enjoy “Human History on Drugs” is no chore.
