Smoke and Ashes
Opium's Hidden Histories
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Narrated by:
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Ranjit Madgavkar
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By:
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Amitav Ghosh
About this listen
Ghosh unravels the impact of the opium trade on global history and in his own family—the climax of a years long project.
When Amitav Ghosh began the research for his monumental cycle of novels the Ibis trilogy ten years ago, he was startled to learn how the lives of the nineteenth-century sailors and soldiers he wrote about were dictated not only by the currents of the Indian Ocean but also by the precious commodity carried in enormous quantities on those currents: opium. Most surprising of all, however, was the discovery that his own identity and family history were swept up in the story.
Smoke and Ashes is at once a travelogue, a memoir, and an essay in history, drawing on decades of archival research. In it, Ghosh traces the transformative effect the opium trade had on Britain, India, and China, as well as the world at large. The trade was engineered by the British Empire, which exported Indian opium to sell to China to redress their great trade imbalance, and its revenues were essential to the empire’s financial survival.
Tracing the profits further, Ghosh finds opium at the origins of some of the world’s biggest corporations, of America’s most powerful families and prestigious institutions (from the Astors and Coolidges to the Ivy League), and of contemporary globalism itself.
Moving deftly between horticultural histories, the mythologies of capitalism, and the repercussions of colonialism, Ghosh reveals the role that one small plant had in making our world, now teetering on the edge of catastrophe.
©2024 Amitav Ghosh (P)2024 Hodder & Stoughton LimitedListeners also enjoyed...
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Not happy, but fascinating
- By Jim In Texas! on 09-25-14
By: Neil Peart
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Where's the Next Shelter?
- By: Gary Sizer
- Narrated by: Gary Sizer
- Length: 11 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
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Where's the Next Shelter? is the true story of three travelers on the Appalachian Trail, a 2,000-mile hike that stretches from Georgia to Maine, told from the perspective of Gary Sizer, a seasoned backpacker and former marine who quickly finds himself humbled by the endeavor. If you long for the horizon or to sleep under the stars, then come along for the hike of a lifetime. All you have to do is take the first step.
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If You Liked AWOL, You'll Like This
- By Rebecca on 06-02-16
By: Gary Sizer
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Mother of God
- An Extraordinary Journey into the Uncharted Tributaries of the Western Amazon
- By: Paul Rosolie
- Narrated by: Jonathan Yen
- Length: 11 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
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For fans of The Lost City of Z, Walking the Amazon, and Turn Right at Machu Picchu comes naturalist and explorer Paul Rosolie’s extraordinary adventure in the uncharted tributaries of the Western Amazon - a tale of discovery that vividly captures the awe, beauty, and isolation of this endangered land and presents an impassioned call to save it.
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This whole book is B.S.
- By bob fields on 09-30-18
By: Paul Rosolie
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Vagabonding
- An Uncommon Guide to the Art of Long-Term World Travel
- By: Rolf Potts
- Narrated by: Rolf Potts
- Length: 4 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
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Vagabonding is about taking time off from your normal life - from six weeks to four months to two years - to discover and experience the world on your own terms. Veteran shoestring traveler Rolf Potts shows how anyone armed with an independent spirit can achieve the dream of extended overseas travel.
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I wanted to love this book...
- By Scott Shepherd on 10-10-16
By: Rolf Potts
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The Longest Silence
- A Life in FIshing
- By: Thomas McGuane
- Narrated by: L.J. Ganser
- Length: 13 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
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From the highly acclaimed author of Ninety-two in the Shade and Cloudbursts comes a collection of alternately playful and exquisite essays—including seven collected here for the first time—borne of a lifetime spent fishing.
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Narrator had to catch a train
- By Brandon Taff on 01-11-23
By: Thomas McGuane
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I struggled to finish... enough said.
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Whaaa?
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Middling
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How Economics Explains the World
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This small book indeed tells a big story. It is the story of capitalism–of how our market system developed. It is the story of the discipline of economics, and some of the key figures who formed it. And it is the story of how economic forces have shaped world history. Why didn’t Africa colonize Europe instead of the other way around? What happened when countries erected trade and immigration barriers in the 1930s? Why did the Allies win World War II? You’ll find answers to these questions and more in How Economics Explains the World.
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Rehashed ideas better explained in other books
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Forgottenness
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An award-winning novel from one of Ukraine’s most prolific contemporary authors, Forgottenness tells a spellbinding story of belonging and uprootedness, as understood by two exiles across time. An exceedingly anxious narrator grapples with a host of conditions, from obsessive-compulsive disorder to a creeping sense of agoraphobia. As her symptoms deepen, she finds unexpected solace researching Viacheslav Lypynskyi (1882-1931), a social and political activist of Polish descent who played a pivotal role in the struggle for Ukrainian independence—and who nursed his own comorbidities.
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What listeners say about Smoke and Ashes
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- AG
- 04-16-24
Poor performance
Publishers really need to pay closer attention to (and perhaps higher fees for) performance. This is another fine book ruined by poor voice acting... over-acting, in many places.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Baboo TH
- 05-19-24
a must read
fascinating history of opium and the evil of opioids. men's cruelty motivated by greed is frightening and the book provides ample proof.
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2 people found this helpful
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- J. Dusheck
- 06-20-24
I adored the narrator
Not sure what others are not liking. I am super fussy about narrators too.
Good pacing and emotive but not overdone at all.
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3 people found this helpful
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- Robert
- 09-12-24
Follow the poppy as it builds and destroys empires
Fascinating dive into the origins of opium and how it has been used by people to shape the centuries. Where myths and legends came from. Even the repercussions that continue to effect us today. Goes into great detail about how the money flowed and the intertangled web of power.
There is a fair amount towards the end that will be hit or miss. I guess if you have read his other books it might be some interesting insight, but was largely wasted on me.
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- Paula de la Cruz
- 03-09-24
Interesting Research, Terrible Reading
There is no question the author knows his subject and although at times and specially in the beginning the book is dull, overall is a very interesting story of early global commerce. The variations in volume and tone of voice of the author makes this book very hard to listen to. I tried putting the volume all the way up and even then when he emphasises a word instead of projecting his voice he whispers. If you can read this book in other formats I highly recommend that you do.
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3 people found this helpful
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- Amazon Customer
- 06-14-24
Eye opening discussion of worldwide opium trade.
For centuries opium trade has been keeping governments monetarily afloat. The first opium cartels were the governments that controlled opium production and sale throughout the world.
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- Virag Masuraha
- 09-08-24
a distinguished book on a topic generally unexplored
excellent and through research on a topic that changed the world but often unspoken of.
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- CD
- 07-31-24
Dull story, poorly narrated
This tedious narrative of how opium was forced on India, China, and other countries by the British and other colonial governments is full of dull details: to name just a a few, long descriptions of how the Indian, English, and American opium traders lived and parties they attended in Guanzhou, China; schools of painting and lives of now-obscure painters who created landscapes and portraits during the opium era; descriptions of obscure fictionalized battles and other episodes from the author's own novels; and on and on. The author even name drops a couple of American movie stars who recently showed an interest in (but didn't buy) the mansion built by one American opium trader.
Amid the dense thickets of details, it's hard to remain interested in the terrible history of opium and how it was used against the poor people who were forced to grow it and the colonized people who were encouraged to destroy themselves using it.
I listened to the book in my car and found myself constantly having to raise and reduce the volume because of the narrator's irritating habit of starting out a sentence loudly, then sinking into a half-whisper part way through. I would have stopped listening if it weren't my book group's most recent selection.
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