Just as some would have us believe that drug-taking was invented in the 1960s, so most drug literature available today seems fixated on late twentieth-century experiences. Richard Rudgley's highly entertaining, impeccably researched new book breaks out of these narrow confines to provide a truly comprehensive anthology of drug-related writings. Nor are the excerpts restricted to the usual genres. From the seventeenth-century come recipes for an 'ant wine aphrodisiac' and suggestions from John Baptista Porta on 'How to make a Man out of his senses for a day'. The pieces also span cultures, from Wade Davis's anthropological study on the preparation of zombie poisons in Haiti, to Amazonian folk tales about snuff; to Indian myths on the origin of ganga, to Lahu prayers for a bountiful opium crop. The extracts range from the condemnatory, to the cautious, to the celebratory. An informative and revisionist take on a controversial issue, WILDEST DREAMS can also be enjoyed simply as an utterly absorbing collection of the very best in drug-related literature.