An important addition to Courtwright's groundbreaking work on the history of substance use disorders, this study of the accelerating 'weaponization' of pleasure–and the biological, social, and economic incentives that fuel excess–is compulsory reading for anyone wondering how addiction became the foremost public health problem worldwide. Deeply researched, intensely readable, and a sobering reminder of our vulnerability to bondage marketed as liberation.–Deborah Rudacille, author of The Riddle of Gender