Introduction ix
Chapter 1 Mother Nature: History's First Bartender 1
Chapter 2 Music: The First Drug? 14
Chapter 3 Celebrity Worship and the Greek Who Predicted TMZ 32
Chapter 4 How Drunken Parties Birthed (and Broke) Civilizations 45
Chapter 5 How Bad Behavior Saved Civilization 70
Chapter 6 Godstitution: The Hidden History of Sex Work 85
Chapter 7 Drugs, the Birth of Religion, and How to Trip Like a Philosopher 103
Chapter 8 Ancient Greek Acid and the Birth of Science 120
Chapter 9 Tobacco and Marijuana: Twins Displaced by Time 131
Chapter 10 Drugged Cultures and Acid Wars 147
Chapter 11 The Shrub That Conquered the World 169
Chapter 12 The Coffee-Drinking Bad Boys of Ancient Islam 181
Chapter 13 How We Evolved to Be Kinky 199
Chapter 14 The Hijacking of Genius: A Deep History of Designer Drugs 216
Chapter 15 The Curious History of Salamander Brandy 238
Conclusion 257
Acknowledgments 260