Assouline Cocaïn: History & Culture

In the popular imagination, cocaine appeared out of nowhere sometime in the 1970s as the ne plus ultra party drug for the disco generation; soon after, its destructive effects became impossible to ignore. In fact, the history of cocaine addiction dates back to the nineteenth century, when it was legal and sold over the counter to treat ailments ranging from stomach aches and cramps to teething pain in babies.

But for thousands of years before that, the unprocessed coca leaf had been essential to the development of South America's indigenous cultures. How did the sacred plant of the Incas become the addictive white powder that held in its grip - and nearly destroyed - such luminaries as Sigmund Freud and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, among countless others? And how did it come to wield the corrosive power depicted in films and TV shows such as Scarface and Narcos? This book tells the story.