"A smoothly guided tour through the history of this often glamorized narcotic...."
-- Publishers Weekly

"Hodgson's magnificently illustrated history of the granddaddy of illicit drugs is masterfully done, very informative."
-- Mike Trilby, Booklist

"A terrifically glamorous short history of opium culture, all exquisitely illustrated in lush colour plates...."
-- Iain Finlayson,, The Times (London)

"Opium ... is an ode to the past, both real and imagined. Hodgson's extraordinary, beautiful book almost makes you year for the old days...."
-- Steven Robert Allen, Weekly Alibi (Albuquerque)