RELATED EVENT
Wednesday 15 June, 6:30-8:30pm
A History of Drugs in Warfare: Łukasz Kamieński on Shooting Up
Book & Kitchen
31 All Saints Road
(off Portobello Road)
Notting Hill, London W11 1HE
£5

From hallucinogenic mushrooms and LSD, to coca and cocaine; from Homeric warriors and the Assassins to the first Gulf War and today s global insurgents drugs have sustained warriors in the field and have been used as weapons of warfare, either as non-lethal psychochemical weapons or as a means of subversion. Lukasz Kamienski explores why and how drugs have been issued to soldiers to increase their battlefield performance, boost their courage and alleviate stress and fear as well as for medical purposes. He also delves into the history of psychoactive substances that combatants self-prescribe , a practice which dates as far back as the Vikings. Shooting Up is a comprehensive and original history of the relationship between fighting men and intoxicants, from Antiquity till the present day, and looks at how drugs will determine the wars of the future in unforeseen and remarkable ways.

‘Fascinating, immensely detailed and surprisingly sober … [A] rich and compendious book.
— Sunday Times

‘An engaging read … a pharmacopoeia of interesting military history, medical research & cultural anecdote.’
— VICE Magazine

‘This in-depth analysis of the ‘highs’ of war tells a largely untold story of the role drugs played over the centuries in supporting troops on the battlefield, and the role they will play in future in driving the course of war. Kamienski’s book will undoubtedly come to be regarded as a classic text.’
— Christopher Coker, Professor of International Relations, London School of Economics

Łukasz Kamieński is Associate Professor at the Faculty of International and Political Studies, Jagiellonian University in Krakow, Poland

Shooting Up: A Short History of Drugs and War
By Lukasz Kamienski
Published by C Hurst & Co
Publication date: March 2016
ISBN: 978-1849045513
Buy online