Thomas De Quincey's highly charged and hauntingly accurate account of laudanum addiction is considered the root of all drug novels - from Baudelaire to Burroughs, Confessions of an English Opium Eater paved the way for later generations of writers. Initially prescribed as pain relief for a chronic condition, De Quincey soon found himself compelled by the opium experience, with his dreams recounted here in every hallucinatory detail; threatening Roman armies, sunken cities and German mountaintops, De Quincey's vivid memories will evoke wonder and curiosity in the listener.
