Mind-altering drugs have been part of virtually every human culture that has ever existed. Mike Jay's narrative traverses the globe and ranges from prehistory to the present day, exploring the role of drugs from ayahuasca in the Amazon to coffee in early modern Europe, opium in China to the discovery of psychedelics. In the process, he shows how they have shaped cultures, kick-started global trade, transformed our understanding of the mind, built empires and threatened the fabric of society.