Univ Tennessee Press
Addicts Who Survived: An Oral History of Narcotic Use in America Before 1965
Key Metrics
- David T Courtwright
- Univ Tennessee Press
- Paperback
- 9781572339378
- 8.9 X 6 X 1.1 inches
- 1.3 pounds
- Self-Help > Substance Abuse & Addictions - Drugs
- English
Secure TransactionBook Description
Praise for the hardcover edition:
A momentous book which I feel is destined to become a classic in the category of scholarly narcotic books.
--Claude Brown, author of the bestseller, Manchild in the Promised Land.
The drug literature is filled with the stereotyped opinions of non-addicted, middle-class pundits who have had little direct contact with addicts. These stories are reality. Narcotic addicts of the inner cities are both tough and gentle, deceptive when necessary and yet often generous--above all, shrewd judges of character. While judging them, the clinician is also being judged.
--Vincent P. Dole, M.D., The Rockefeller Institute.
What was it like to be a narcotic addict during the Anslinger era? No book will probably ever appear that gives a better picture than this one. . . . a singularly readable and informative work on a subject ordinarily buried in clich�s and stereotypes.
--Donald W. Goodwin, Journal of the American Medical Association
. . . an important contribution to the growing body of literature that attempts to more clearly define the nature of drug addiction. . . . [This book] will appeal to a diverse audience. Academicians, politicians, and the general reader will find this approach to drug addiction extremely beneficial, insightful, and instructive. . . . Without qualification anyone wishing to acquire a better understanding of drug addicts and addiction will benefit from reading this book.
--John C. McWilliams, Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography
This study has much to say to a general audience, as well as those involved in drug control.
--Publishers Weekly
The authors' comments are perceptive and the interviews make interesting reading.
--John Duffy, Journal of American History
This book adds a vital and often compelling human dimension to the story of drug use and law enforcement. The material will be of great value to other specialists, such as those interested in the history of organized crime and of outsiders in general.
--H. Wayne Morgan, Journal of Southern History
This book represents a significant and valuable addition to the contemporary substance abuse literature. . . . this book presents findings from a novel and remarkably imaginative research approach in a cogent and exceptionally informative manner.
--William M. Harvey, Journal of Psychoactive Drugs
This is a good and important book filled with new information containing provocative elements usually brought forth through the touching details of personal experience. . . . There isn't a recollection which isn't of intrinsic value and many point to issues hardly ever broached in more conventional studies.
--Alan Block, Journal of Social History
Author Bio
I have taught medical, U.S., and world history at the University of North Florida, where I am presidential professor emeritus in the Department of History. I have authored books on drug use and drug policy, both in American and world history; the special problems of frontier environments, both on the land and in the air; and, most recently, about the culture war that has roiled American politics since the 1960s. I am currently working on a book about pleasure and capitalism in the modern world.
David T. Courtwright, a graduate of the University of Kansas and Rice University, offers upper-division courses in the history of medicine and disease and American history, notably "The U.S. since World War I" and "The 1960s and Vietnam." His current graduate offerings include readings in U.S. history since 1865 and two internationally oriented research seminars, "The Long 1960s" and "Violence and the State."
Courtwright has published influential books on drug use and drug policy, both in American and world history; the social problems of frontier environments on the land and in the air; and the culture war that roiled American politics during and after the 1960s. Whether it is about drugs, violence, aerospace, or cultural politics, his research is concerned with power, policy, and social structure. His ambition is to identify what drives fundamental changes in modern social and political history. He is currently completing another project in this vein, a book about pleasure, vice, and addiction in the modern world.
Courtwright's teaching and research have been recognized by the John A. Delaney Presidential Professorship, the UNF Distinguished Professor Award, five teaching awards, the College on Problems of Drug Dependence Media Award, and fellowships from the American Historical Association, NASA, the American Council of Learned Societies, and the National Endowment for the Humanities, including a 2016-2017 NEH Public Scholar Award.
Source: University of North Florida
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