Download or read book Confessions of an English Opium-Eater written by Thomas De Quincey and published by Random House. This book was released on 2013-01-03 with total page 146 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY HOWARD MARKS Once upon a time, opium (the main ingredient of heroin) was easily available over the chemist's counter. The secret of happiness, about which philosophers have disputed for so many ages, could be bought for a penny, and carried in the waistcoat pocket: portable ecstasies could be corked up in a pint bottle. Paradise? So thought Thomas de Quincey, but he soon discovered that 'nobody will laugh long who deals much with opium'.