HUMAN HISTORY ON DRUGS

This is a lively and hilarious look at the druggie side of history's most famous figures, including Shakespeare, Queen Victoria, and The Beatles.

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 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"), 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 Was Astronomically High"), Kelly's research spans all manner of times, 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 history. Sam Kelly, a history grad from Stanford, is on the autism spectrum, and his interest and passion for history has become an almost physical compulsion. He loves to dig up forgotten and weird historical stories, and spends hours uncovering every last stubborn detail. A deep believer that history can be as exciting as any Marvel movie, Sam's aim whether on TikTok or through a book is to make history both engaging and accessible to all. HUMAN HISTORY ON DRUGS is his first book.