Out of it: A Cultural History of Intoxication [Paperback]

'Irvine Welsh and Stuart Walton have done more than most writers to change our attitudes to drug use.' --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

'Reading Stuart Walton's prose is a bit like going on some kind of trip. His erudition is dizzying.' --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

'Out Of It is the most refreshing book ever published on the subject ... beautifully written.' --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

'A fluent plea for legalisation, by the only wine writer ever to admit that one of the best things about wine is the fact that it gets you pissed.' --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

'True to its theme, Walton's compelling and trenchant polemic is apt to induce a welter of sensations.' --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

In this book, Stuart Walton takes on Nietzsche's challenge in "The Gay Science": "Who will ever relate the whole history of narcotica?" From Greek and Roman antiquity, through the Middle Ages, the English Restoration, to the present, Walton guides the reader through the Western history of intoxication and examines its implications for society, culture, religion and the corporeal individual. This is an account of how and why human beings in all ages have had recourse to altered states of consciousness (whether through drugs or alcohol) as a primary requisite of daily life.

Stuart Walton has written for the Observer and the Sunday Telegraph as well as for numerous magazines. He is the author of THE WORLD ENCYCLOPEDIA OF WINE and co-author of THE GOOD FOOD GUIDE. He lives in Brighton.