Human History on Drugs

An Utterly Scandalous but Entirely Truthful Look at History Under the Influence

De: Sam Kelly

Narrado por: Joe Scalora

A lively, hilarious, and entirely truthful look at the druggie side of history’s most famous figures, including Shakespeare, George Washington, the Beatles, and more

Did you know that Alexander the Great was a sloppy drunk and William Shakespeare was a stoner? Or how about the fact that Steve Jobs believed taking LSD helped him create the Apple computer, or that Sigmund Freud loved cocaine so much he took it all the time and prescribed it to his patients?

In Human History on Drugs, Sam Kelly introduces us to the history our teachers never told us, offering up irreverent and insightful commentary as he sheds light on some truly bizarre aspects of the historical characters we only thought we knew. With chapters spanning from Ancient Greece (“The Oracle of Delphi Was Huffing Fumes”) to modern times (“Carl Sagan Got Astronomically High”), Kelly's research covers all manner of eras, places, and, of course, drugs.

History is rife with drug use and drug users, and Human History on Drugs takes us through those highs (pun intended) and lows on a witty and entertaining ride that uncovers their mind-boggling impact on our past.

©2025 Sam Kelly (P)2025 Penguin Audio

Reseñas de la Crítica

"A nonstop, eye-popping panorama... Besides serving up a multitude of entertaining stories, Kelly provides genuine food for thought about the medical and spiritual applications of psychedelics. Brimming with enthusiasm for history’s nooks and crannies, this charms."—Publishers Weekly

“Human History on Drugs brings famous historical figures and eras to life in a way we’ve never seen them before. You’ll never look at history the same way again.”—Harlan Coben, #1 New York Times bestselling author

Fun Topic

engaging stories and generally lighthearted reading. author gets a bit political for no reason other than he feels we should know their political views.

overall, solid.

Exceptonal Narration of Great Content

I have almost listened to almost 200 Audible books. I cannot remember another in which I was so engrossed in the content because of the narrator's exceptional skill. The content was not only informative, but provocative. It caused me to think more deeply about historical figures and the complex relatonships we have with drugs, alcohol, and food in our daily lives. I had read about Adolf Hitler's addiction to drugs, but this author and narrator succinctly and powerfully made the point that his drug-induced delusion that he and Germany could not be defeated both led to disastrous decisions throughout his time as Chancellor and to an improbably significant military bombing success: the destruction of pharmaceutical plants needed to produce the drugs that fueled his madness. The author also correctly noted that the German blitzkrieg succeeded, in part, because the drugs freely and copiously distributed to German soldiers enabled them to keep moving forward without sleep for several days at a time.

One of the sadder stories was the chapter that recounted how Elvis Presley entered the Army as a clean-cut and physically fit young and was discharged from it as an addict because of what his superiors induced him to start using. One of the more frightening stories was the frequency with whch Richard Nixon wanted to use nuclear weapons after getting drunk, only to be stopped by his staff people and military leaders.

The author also made the provocative comment that Steve Jobs' intake of LSD may have caused him to visualize computer interfaces differently and instantly understand the significance of what he saw and stole from Xerox when he visited their Palo Alto facility.

I cannot think of a single one of the 40 chapters that could not have become the subject of a longer essay or even a full-length book.

A fun listen!

Informative and amusing. Some great anecdotes, and enough historical context to make them all impactful. Each chapter can stand on its own so it easy to listen to in small windows of time. But overall it is brief, fun, and light enough to plow through in a weekend.