Shooting Up: A History of Drugs in Warfare

Shooting Up: A History of Drugs in Warfare
ISBN-10
1849048835
ISBN-13
9781849048835
Series
Shooting Up
Category
Drug abuse
Pages
392
Language
English
Published
2017-08-31
Publisher
Oxford University Press
Author
Łukasz Kamieński

Description

From hallucinogenic mushrooms and LSD, to coca and cocaine; from Homeric warriors and the Assassins to the first Gulf War and today's global insurgents - drugs have sustained warriors in the field and have been used as weapons of warfare, either as non-lethal psychochemical weapons or as a means of subversion. Lukasz Kamienski explores why and how drugs have been issued to soldiers to increase their battlefield performance, boost their courage and alleviate stress and fear - as well as for medical purposes. He also delves into the history of psychoactive substances that combatants 'self-prescribe', a practice which dates as far back as the Vikings. Shooting Up is a comprehensive and original history of the relationship between fighting men and intoxicants, from Antiquity till the present day, and looks at how drugs will determine the wars of the future in unforeseen and remarkable ways.

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