{
  "$type": "site.standard.document",
  "description": "This made for a fascinating read about a historical topic I only had a vague familiarity with. It's detailed inasmuch as it connects the spread of opium's history, production and consumption — meticulous research as narrative. Chinese rulers had banned opium, the British grew it in India and fought two wars with China to force legalization, knowing full well how addictive it was. He traces the impact on India, China and everywhere in between as colonial Britain fought for the right to profit off of addictive human suffering (the Dutch played their part two). He pulls in his own experience writing fiction that touches on the opium trade, transforms what could be dry history into a compelling narrative, pulls in the Sackler family's involvement with a well-deserved reference to Patrick Radden Keefe's Empire of Pain . One of the better, more thorough, pieces of historical non-fiction I've read recently. : By vague familiarity I mean that I'd heard that opium wars had happened. : A more compelling, focused read that covers Purdue's actions in isolation.",
  "path": "/reading/books/9781529349252/smoke-and-ashes",
  "publishedAt": "2025-02-28T00:00:00Z",
  "site": "at://did:plc:sttgf52vkk46f6yuknvqxvgh/site.standard.publication/self",
  "tags": [
    "history",
    "nonfiction"
  ],
  "title": "Smoke and Ashes"
}