{"product_id":"opium-how-an-ancient-flower-shaped-and-poisoned-our-world-9780316417679","title":"Opium: How an Ancient Flower Shaped and Poisoned Our World","description":"\u003ch2\u003eThe Authoritative History of Opium and the Modern Opioid Crisis\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eWritten by Dr. John H. Halpern, a Harvard-trained psychiatrist and former medical director of the Boston Center for Addiction Treatment, alongside award-winning documentary writer David Blistein, this book traces the complete history of opium from its ancient origins to today's deadly overdose epidemic.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003eFrom Ancient Mesopotamia to Modern America\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe narrative begins with poppy artifacts discovered in ancient Mesopotamia and follows the flower's journey through Greek medicine, colonial trade networks, and pharmaceutical development. The authors reveal how obscure chemists refined opium's power, how empires marketed it globally, and how international drug companies developed synthetic opioids that triggered an addiction epidemic claiming nearly fifty thousand American lives in 2018 alone.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003eExpert Perspective on Addiction Medicine\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eDr. Halpern brings over twenty years of Harvard Medical School faculty experience and addiction research expertise to this work. His background includes directing a research laboratory at McLean Hospital with National Institute on Drug Abuse funding and overseeing the largest substance use disorder hospital in New England. This clinical experience informs the book's compassionate approach to understanding addiction as an illness.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003eCritical Analysis of Policy and Society\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe book disentangles crucial misjudgments, patterns of greed, and racial stereotypes that transformed an effective painkiller into a source of widespread suffering. It examines how opium shaped trade networks, medical protocols, and drug enforcement policies while exposing the fragility of modern civilization. The authors connect painkillers, politics, finance, and society in ways that illuminate our current crisis.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003eScience-Based Solutions\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eBeyond historical analysis, the book presents state-of-the-art science and compassionate treatment approaches for overcoming the overdose epidemic. Using insights from centuries of opium history combined with contemporary addiction medicine, the authors offer pathways forward for addressing what has become the deadliest crisis in American history.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003eRecognition and Praise\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eNamed an NPR Best Book of the Year, this work has earned acclaim from medical experts and authors including Dr. Andrew Weil, Sam Quinones, Dr. Julie Holland, and Laurence Bergreen. Critics have praised it as \"authoritative, engaging, and accessible,\" \"fascinating,\" and \"the most important, provocative, and challenging book\" on the subject.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cb\u003eFrom a psychiatrist on the frontlines of addiction medicine and an expert on the history of drug use comes the \"authoritative, engaging, and accessible\" history of the flower that helped to build (\u003ci\u003eBooklist\u003c\/i\u003e) -- and now threatens -- modern society.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003eOpioid addiction is fast becoming the most deadly crisis in American history. In 2018, it claimed nearly fifty thousand lives -- more than gunshots and car crashes combined, and almost as many Americans as were killed in the entire Vietnam War. But even as the overdose crisis ravages our nation -- straining our prison system, dividing families, and defying virtually every legislative solution to treat it -- few understand how it came to be. \u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eOpium\u003c\/i\u003e tells the \"fascinating\" (\u003ci\u003eLit Hub\u003c\/i\u003e) and at times harrowing tale of how we arrived at today's crisis, \"mak[ing] timely and startling connections among painkillers, politics, finance, and society\" (Laurence Bergreen). The story begins with the discovery of poppy artifacts in ancient Mesopotamia, and goes on to explore how Greek physicians and obscure chemists discovered opium's effects and refined its power, how colonial empires marketed it around the world, and eventually how international drug companies developed a range of powerful synthetic opioids that led to an epidemic of addiction.\u003cbr\u003eThroughout, Dr. John Halpern and David Blistein reveal the fascinating role that opium has played in building our modern world, from trade networks to medical protocols to drug enforcement policies. Most importantly, they disentangle how crucial misjudgments, patterns of greed, and racial stereotypes served to transform one of nature's most effective painkillers into a source of unspeakable pain -- and how, using the insights of history, state-of-the-art science, and a compassionate approach to the illness of addiction, we can overcome today's overdose epidemic.\u003cbr\u003eThis urgent and masterfully woven narrative tells an epic story of how one beautiful flower became the fascination of leaders, tycoons, and nations through the centuries and in their hands exposed the fragility of our civilization.\u003cb\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003eAn NPR Best Book of the Year\u003c\/b\u003e\"A landmark project.\" -- Dr. Andrew Weil\"Engrossing and highly readable.\" -- Sam Quinones\"An astonishing journey through time and space.\" -- Julie Holland, MD\"The most important, provocative, and challenging book I've read in a long time.\" -- Laurence Bergreen\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eJohn H. Halpern, MD\u003c\/b\u003e, a psychiatrist in private practice, previously served as medical director of the Boston Center for Addiction Treatment, the largest substance use disorder hospital in New England. He completed his residency and a fellowship in addiction research at Harvard Medical School programs. He spent more than twenty years on the faculty of Harvard Medical School and during his professorship served as the director of his own research laboratory at McLean Hospital, supported by private grants and National Institute on Drug Abuse funding.\u003cb\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003eDavid Blistein\u003c\/b\u003e wrote the award-winning PBS documentary \u003ci\u003eThe Mayo Clinic: Faith - Hope - Science\u003c\/i\u003e and is currently writing a film about Henry David Thoreau as well as a comprehensive three-part series on brain disorders and mental health. He also co-wrote \u003ci\u003eCancer: The Emperor of All Maladies\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eThe Gene \u003c\/i\u003efor PBS and is the author of \u003ci\u003eDavid's Inferno\u003c\/i\u003e, a book that combines personal anecdotes with insights into manic depression and descriptions of how it is diagnosed and treated.","brand":"Hachette Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50680556683538,"sku":"9780316417679","price":14.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_5e9aa8c0-1ce0-47f8-b60b-71e555974d6a.jpg?v=1734922638","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/opium-how-an-ancient-flower-shaped-and-poisoned-our-world-9780316417679","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}