Smoke And Ashes

''An acerbic, compelling and always accessible account of how opium corrupted the world'' TLS''The writing is sublime, the research thorough, the eye for story superb'' Sunday TelegraphWhen Amitav ...

''An acerbic, compelling and always accessible account of how opium corrupted the world'' TLS''The writing is sublime, the research thorough, the eye for story superb'' Sunday TelegraphWhen Amitav Ghosh began the research for his monumental cycle of novels the Ibis Trilogy, he was startled to find how the lives of the 19th century sailors and soldiers he wrote of were dictated not only by the currents of the Indian Ocean, but also by the precious commodity carried in enormous quantities on those currents: opium. Most surprising of all, however, was the discovery that his own identity and famil