Highlights: The Illustrated History of Cannabis

by Andrew Smith, Carol Sherman

From its grassroots beginnings to reefer madness in high society, "Highlights" traces the colorful 10,000-year journey of this illustrious weed.

Genres: History

160 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 1999

About the author

Andrew Smith was born in Liverpool, England and now lives in Toronto and London. He has taken creative writing courses at the University of Toronto, and has also graduated as a graphic designer. His short fiction has appeared in some of the most repected literary magazines in North America. He has published two non-fiction books: Strangers in the Garden, an illustrated history of flowers and Highlights, an illustrated history of cannabis. He is also an award-winning travel writer. Edith’s War, his first novel, won a gold medal for fiction at the Independent Publisher's Awards in New York. His second novel, The Speech, was published by Urbane Publications in United Kingdom in October, 2016. His next novel, The Paparazzo and the Pop Star, was publsihed three years later. His fourth and most recent novel, a queer historical fiction, titled The Boom of the Bittern, was published in June, 2026.

Reviews

[Thebookwookie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Though I don't know enough on the topic to verify how accurate it is, it certainly makes for an interesting/very easy read...I had no idea how many tonnes of hemp they needed for a warships sail back in yonder year etc...it also broadened my horizons..I watched the movie it referenced 'reefer madness' on youtube afterwards, giving me a better perspective of just how demonized the drug was throughout the 20th century.
Also, a cartoon in the book contains the word rannygazoo, a superb word which I'd only previously heard in a song Frontier Psychiatrist by The Avalanches...the video for that song can almost certainly relate to this book!
Sorry to wander off topic... great book!

[Terri London Mabel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book. Fun, interesting read, great pictures.