Preface
Introduction: How Drugs Made War and War Made Drugs
1: Drunk on the Front
2: Where there's Smoke there's War
3: Caffeinated Conflict
4: Opium, Empire, and Geopolitics
5: Speed Warfare
6: Cocaine Wars
Conclusion: The Drugged Battlefields of the 21st Century
Notes
Index
Peter Andreas is the John Hay Professor of International Studies at
Brown University, where he holds a joint appointment between the
Department of Political Science and the Watson Institute for
International and Public Affairs. Andreas has published ten books,
including Smuggler Nation: How Illicit Trade Made America. He has
also written for publications such as Foreign Affairs, Foreign
Policy, The Guardian,
Harper's, The Nation, The New Republic, Slate, The New York Times,
and The Washington Post. A graduate of Swarthmore College and
Cornell University, he lives with his family in Providence, Rhode
Island.
"Since time immemorial, soldiers have consumed mind-altering
substances; Andreas (International Studies/Brown Univ.; Smuggler
Nation: How Illicit Trade Made America, 2013, etc.) delivers an
impressive, often unsettling history of six." --Kirkus
"Peter Andreas...has drawn from an impressive and eclectic mix of
sources to give psychoactive and addictive drugs a fuller place in
discussions of war.
His book steps back from the headlines to draw a full arc that
reads as both complement and counterpoint to enduring fables and
simplistic accounts surrounding wars and nations you may think you
know. Organized into six main chapters on the varied drugs-war
relationships - one each for alcohol, tobacco, caffeine, opium,
speed and cocaine - it offers a fascinating interpretive lens for
drugs' roles in making war and, in turn, wars' roles in spreading
drugs around the world." --C.J.
Chivers, New York Times
"Peter Andreas always writes about captivating topics, but his take
on the combination of violence and drugs may be his best yet. This
is a history of conflict and capitalism and how the two are
intertwined. It also provides a fascinating perspective on consumer
behavior and the creation of our drugged culture. Beautifully
written, this book is both scholarly and wonderfully entertaining.
A great read!" --Miguel A. Centeno, Vice Dean and
Musgrave Professor of Sociology, Woodrow Wilson School of Public
and International Affairs, Princeton University
"Ingeniously plotted, briskly written, and strikingly illustrated,
Killer High delivers a kaleidoscopic trip through the history of
drugs and war. Peter Andreas looks at the drug-war relationship
from every angle: how combatants and noncombatants used drugs; how
wars were fought through, for, or against drugs; and how wars
shaped the fates of drugs, often speeding their rise as global
commodities." --David Courtwright, author of
Forces of Habit and The Age of Addiction
"Killer High frees history from the names-and-dates straightjacket
and looks more deeply at why we fight. From the drinking binges of
Alexander the Great to anti-drug campaigns in Afghanistan and Latin
America, it illuminates the hidden relationship between drugs and
war. By reimagining the past so insightfully, it helps us
understand the conflicts of today and tomorrow." --Stephen Kinzer,
Senior Fellow in International and Public
Affairs, Watson Institute, Brown University, and former foreign
correspondent, New York Times
"Peter Andreas is that rare political scientist who can weave
serious and compelling historical arguments and who writes with the
breadth and clarity of a public intellectual. Killer High is a
killer book-the definitive work on the history of drugs and
warfare." --Paul Gootenberg, Stony Brook University, author of
Andean Cocaine: The Making of a Global Drug
"Killer High is a captivating book, laced with provocative insights
about the enduring relationship between drugs and war and further
enlivened with entertaining flashes of wit." --Andrew Bacevich,
author of The Age of Illusions: How Americans Squandered Their Cold
War Victory
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