Harvard University Press
Dark Paradise: A History of Opiate Addiction in America
Key Metrics
- David T Courtwright
- Harvard University Press
- Paperback
- 9780674005853
- 9.27 X 6.12 X 0.92 inches
- 1.1 pounds
- History > United States - 19th Century
- English
Secure TransactionBook Description
In a newly enlarged edition of this eye-opening book, David T. Courtwright offers an original interpretation of a puzzling chapter in American social and medical history: the dramatic change in the pattern of opiate addiction--from respectable upper-class matrons to lower-class urban males, often with a criminal record. Challenging the prevailing view that the shift resulted from harsh new laws, Courtwright shows that the crucial role was played by the medical rather than the legal profession.
Dark Paradise tells the story not only from the standpoint of legal and medical sources, but also from the perspective of addicts themselves. With the addition of a new introduction and two new chapters on heroin addiction and treatment since 1940, Courtwright has updated this compelling work of social history for the present crisis of the Drug War.
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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