Thomas De Quincey's highly charged and hauntingly accurate account of laudanum addiction is considered the root of all drug novels—from Baudelaire to Burroughs, Confessions of an English Opium Eater paved the way for later generations of writers. Initially prescribed as pain relief for a chronic condition, De Quincey soon found himself compelled by the opium experience, with his dreams recounted here in every hallucinatory detail; threatening Roman armies, sunken cities and German mountaintops, De Quincey's vivid memories will evoke wonder and curiosity in the listener.