Since the day that Christopher Columbus first observed native Americans 'with firebrands in their hands and herbs to smoke after their custom', tobacco has wound its way into every corner of modern life. In its various forms smoking has soothed and irritated us, inspired and stupefied us, beguiled us on screen and outraged us in train carriages. Robert Burton wrote in The Anatomy of Melancholy that tobacco was divine, 'a sovereign remedy to all diseases'. Nearly four centuries later, the Oxford Medical Companion dryly noted that tobacco is the only legally available consumer product that kills people when it is used entirely as intended. We've come a long way, baby.With contributions from the likes of Sir Walter Raleigh and Kenneth Williams, Samuel Johnson and Helen Fielding, The Faber Book of Smoking tells the fascinating story of one of humankind's most persistent and peculiar habits.
Readers of the Harry Potter series and Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell are sure to be mesmerized by Dan Vyleta’s thrilling blend of historical fiction and fantasy, as three young friends scratch the surface of the grown-up world to discover startling wonders—and dangerous secrets. “Dan Vyleta writes with intricacy and imagination and skillful pacing; never once would I have considered putting his book down. In the manner of both a Dickens novel and the best young adult adventure stories (the Harry Potter series among them). . .his ending, which I wouldn’t dare reveal here, is a real firecracker.”—Jennifer Senior, The New York Times Welcome to a Victorian England unlike any other you have experienced before. Here, wicked thoughts (both harmless and hate-filled) appear in the air as telltale wisps of Smoke. Young Thomas Argyle, a son of aristocracy, has been sent to an elite boarding school. Here he will be purged of Wickedness, for the wealthy do not Smoke. When he resists a sadistic headboy's temptations to Smoke, a much larger struggle beyond the school walls is revealed. Shortly thereafter, on a trip to London, Thomas and his best friend witness events that make them begin to question everything they have been taught about Smoke. And thus the adventure begins... You will travel by coach to a grand estate where secrets lurk in attic rooms and hidden laboratories; where young love blossoms; and where a tumultuous relationship between a mother and her children is the crucible in which powerful passions are kindled, and dangerous deeds must be snuffed out in a desperate race against time.
Why do people smoke? Taking a unique approach to this question, Jason Hughes moves beyond the usual focus on biological addiction that dominates news coverage and public health studies and invites us to reconsider how social and personal understandings of smoking crucially affect the way people experience it. Learning to Smoke examines the diverse sociological and cultural processes that have compelled people to smoke since the practice was first introduced to the West during the sixteenth century. Hughes traces the transformations of tobacco and its use over time, from its role as a hallucinogen in Native American shamanistic ritual to its use as a prophylactic against the plague and a cure for cancer by early Europeans, and finally to the current view of smoking as a global pandemic. He then analyzes tobacco from the perspective of the individual user, exploring how its consumption relates to issues of identity and life changes. Comparing sociocultural and personal experiences, Hughes ultimately asks what the patterns of tobacco use mean for the clinical treatment of smokers and for public policy on smoking. Pointing the way, then, to a more learned and sophisticated understanding of tobacco use, this study will prove to be essential reading for anyone interested in the history of smoking and the sociology of addiction.
Research in the past five years suggests a bleak picture of the health dangers of smoking, with tobacco the biggest single killer of all forms of pollution. It is estimated that one person dies every ten seconds due to smoking-related diseases. This publication considers the history and current position regarding tobacco use, as well as providing some predictions for the future of the tobacco epidemic upto the year 2050. It contains a number of full-colour world maps and graphics to illustrate the variations between countries and regions. Issues discussed include: tobacco prevalence and consumption; youth smoking; the economics of tobacco farming and manufacturing; smuggling; the tobacco industry, promotion, profits and trade; smokers' rights; legislative action such as smoke-free areas, tobacco advertising bans and health warnings.
People have always smoked, and they probably always will. Every culture in recorded history has smoked something, whether for pleasure or relief, whether as part of an elaborate religious ritual or merely to strike a pose. This is the first truly comprehensive history of smoking, describinbg all of its forms, practices, paraphernalia and materials, in cultures, locations and times throughout the world.
When he turned sixty-five, playwright Simon Gray began to keep a diary in which he reflected on a life filled with cigarettes (continuing), alcohol (stopped), several triumphs and many more disasters, shame, adultery, friendship and love. Bringing together the four parts of The Smoking Diaries (The Smoking Diaries, The Year of the Jouncer, The Last Cigarette, and Coda) this beautiful volume is filled with comedy and serious reflection, sharp observation and painful self-disclosure. A brilliant and moving account of life's unsteady progress, it takes the reader to the heart of one man's brilliant struggle towards some kind of personal truth.
This report considers the biological and behavioral mechanisms that may underlie the pathogenicity of tobacco smoke. Many Surgeon General's reports have considered research findings on mechanisms in assessing the biological plausibility of associations observed in epidemiologic studies. Mechanisms of disease are important because they may provide plausibility, which is one of the guideline criteria for assessing evidence on causation. This report specifically reviews the evidence on the potential mechanisms by which smoking causes diseases and considers whether a mechanism is likely to be operative in the production of human disease by tobacco smoke. This evidence is relevant to understanding how smoking causes disease, to identifying those who may be particularly susceptible, and to assessing the potential risks of tobacco products.
The decision to quit smoking is far from a casual one. Quitting smoking involves your complete commitment; it must become your number-one priority. Mustering all the support you can get, you need to decide to turn up the flame on your survival instincts, your belief in a healthy future, and your will power and faith that you can and will quit. The sooner you stop smoking, the better your chances of avoiding some of the unwelcome consequences of smoking. You body and brain begin to recover almost immediately. Cigarette cravings aside, your body wants to stop smoking, and the moment you cut loose the smokes, your respiratory system begins to clear itself out. Here are just a few of the benefits you can reap from kicking the habit: A longer life with a lower risk of cancer and other deadly diseases No more sore throats, congested lungs, and persistent cough The ability to exercise and "get back into shape" Kissable breath and clothes that don't smell like you just came home from a bar Being able to really taste good food Pleasing your family and friends and no more being the outcast Like all smokers, you've probably tried to quit a half dozen times, only to relapse. Perhaps you'd given up all hope of being able to quit, but now you're getting pressure from others, such as family members, to end your smoking career completely. But how do you take those first steps? And how do you follow through with your commitment to quit smoking? Quitting Smoking For Dummies can help. Quitting Smoking For Dummies takes a total approach to help you quit smoking – short of yanking the cigarettes from your hands. It gives you the cold, hard truth about why you're addicted and how smoking harms your body – and it helps you develop a plan for finally quitting. Here's just a sampling of the topics you'll find covered: Understanding the various forms of tobacco – and their effects Figuring out why you're addicted Analyzing the health risks of smoking Developing a strategy to quit smoking Exploring nicotine replacement therapies Staying clean: Avoiding the relapse Getting help from support groups and programs Special considerations for pregnancy and teen smoking So, the question to ask yourself is, "Why wait to quit?" You're going to have to eventually; why not start now? With Quitting Smoking For Dummies, you can start your recovery today, and look forward to a long and healthy life.
Tobacco has become one of the most widely used and traded commoditites on the planet. Reflecting contemporary anthropological interest in material culture studies, Anthropology of Tobacco makes the plant the centre of its own contentious, global story in which, instead of a passive commodity, tobacco becomes a powerful player in a global adventure involving people, corporations and public health. Bringing together a range of perspectives from the social and natural sciences as well as the arts and humanities, Anthropology of Tobacco weaves stories together from a range of historical, cross-cultural and literary sources and empirical research. These combine with contemporary anthropological theories of agency and cross-species relationships to offer fresh perspectives on how an apparently humble plant has progressed to world domination, and the consequences of it having done so. It also considers what needs to happen if, as some public health advocates would have it, we are seriously to imagine ‘a world without tobacco’. This book presents students, scholars and practitioners in anthropology, public health and social policy with unique and multiple perspectives on tobacco-human relations.
