08-17-2025, 01:49 PM
Smoke and Ashes by Amitav Ghosh
The story of Britain and America's adventures in drug smuggling from India to China in from 17th to the 20th century.
The book is really well written, should be since Ghosh won the Booker prize but is very accessible. Ghosh balances the drug trade then with events that are happening now and how the forces that drove them still exist today, you know, greed. I learned a lot. Some of it was painful like how involved the US was in the drug trade at that time and how most of the important New England families built their fortunes on the drug trade. Think Forbes for instance.
Ghosh does like to point out on many occasions that he wrote a trilogy of books that cover all this ground in a fictionalizes format as well. Probably worked. I might read those books in the future.
The story of Britain and America's adventures in drug smuggling from India to China in from 17th to the 20th century.
The book is really well written, should be since Ghosh won the Booker prize but is very accessible. Ghosh balances the drug trade then with events that are happening now and how the forces that drove them still exist today, you know, greed. I learned a lot. Some of it was painful like how involved the US was in the drug trade at that time and how most of the important New England families built their fortunes on the drug trade. Think Forbes for instance.
Ghosh does like to point out on many occasions that he wrote a trilogy of books that cover all this ground in a fictionalizes format as well. Probably worked. I might read those books in the future.
As a matter of fact, my anger does keep me warm