The Mystery of Coca Java and the Kew Plant Steven B Karch Cardiac Pathology and Toxicology, California, USA £9.99,  978-1-85315-547-5,  224pp,  Paperback,  May 2003

Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine
Strange history, intriguing curiosities, unhappy lessons for would-be controllers of the cocaine trade and satisfaction for the armchair traveller await the reader of this handsomely produced paperback. This is a good ‘read’: it can be enjoyed for the charm of the history, the illustrative engravings ... and skilful translations of rare monographs.

NSW Society of the History of Medicine, 2003
An unusual mix of old and new… it will appeal to readers with an interest in the subject.

Medical Sciences History, 2003
This book contains unique information… covering virtually every topic from botany through growing techniques to chemistry and the economies of the trade a valuable source.

Medical History Australia, 2003
This is a book for serious researchers, toxicologists and forensic experts but will also appeal to historians, as drug history is now considered a legitimate and reasonable undertaking.

A History of Cocaine sheds light on the early history of the cocaine industy when cocaine was a legal drug manufactured by major pharmaceutical companies.

This book contains annotated translations of three rare, previously untranslated, late nineteenth and early twentieth century manuscripts on the chemistry, botany and economics of the cocaine industry, highlighting the little known role of Netherlands and Indonesia.

The first translation explores the Indonesian cocaine trade and contains a detailed account of coca cultivation in Java. It provides an overview of the methods used to refine cocaine, and a general survey of its medicinal chemistry. The other two translations include general histories of the industry but written from different perspectives. They contain a wealth of interesting detail, mostly unknown to the general reader, and largely unknown to historians as well.

The book will be of great interest to toxicolgists, criminalists and forensic experts but will also be fascinating for the general reader.

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