Essential Substances: A Cultural History of Intoxicants in Society
Richard Rudgley‘A splendid contribution to the new wave of scholarship that is forcing a different approach to our ages-old fascination with hallucinogenic plants and altered states. Richard Rudgley is to be congratulated’ -Terence McKenna, author of Food of the Gods and True Hallucinations. ‘Should be required reading for all legislators who think disliked substances can be made to vanish by means of criminal sanctions’ - Andrew Weil MD, author of The Natural Mind.
Rudgley cogently shows how the significance of these substances extends beyond simple pleasure to the economic, political, and sexual life of a community. In the process, he challenges our assumptions that deem certain intoxicants socially and legally acceptable, while others remain taboo. Essential Substances remains a timely, much-needed reconsideration of the roles intoxicants play in our lives and society. Added for this edition is a new appendix, ‘A Psychoactive Bestiary’.
Richard Rudgley is a critically acclaimed author whose books have been translated into twelve languages. He has also written and presented several documentaries that have aired on Channel Four in the United Kingdom and on various channels internationally.
This is a rip of the Kindle edition, ASIN: B00T3ESYIY.