ABSTRACT

Cocaine examines the rise and fall of this notorious substance from its legitimate use by scientists and medics in the nineteenth century to the international prohibitionist regimes and drug gangs of today. Themes explored include:
* Amsterdam's complex cocaine culture
* the manufacture, sale and control of cocaine in the United States
* Japan and the Southeast Asian cocaine industry
* export of cocaine prohibitions to Peru
* sex, drugs and race in early modern London
Cocaine unveils new primary sources and covert social, cultural and political transformations to shed light on cocaine's hidden history.

chapter 1|17 pages

Introduction

Cocaine: the hidden histories

part I|61 pages

Amer-Andean connections (the United States, Peru)

chapter 2|25 pages

Making a modern drug

The manufacture, sale, and control of cocaine in the United States, 1880–1920

chapter 3|34 pages

Reluctance or resistance?

Constructing cocaine (prohibitions) in Peru, 1910–50

part II|81 pages

European axis, Asian circuits (Germany, Britain, the Netherlands and Java, Japan)

chapter 5|18 pages

Cocaine girls

Sex, drugs, and modernity in London during and after the First World War

chapter 6|23 pages

Doctors, diplomats, and businessmen

Conflicting interests in the Netherlands and Dutch East Indies, 1860–1950

part III|29 pages

The new American nexus (Colombia, Mexico)

chapter 8|18 pages

Colombia

Cocaine and the “miracle” of modernity in Medellín

chapter 9|9 pages

Cocaine in Mexico

A prelude to “los Narcos”