Introduction: How drugs made war and war made drugs -- Drunk on the front -- Where there's smoke there's war -- Caffeinated conflict -- Opium, empire, and Geopolitics -- Speed warfare -- Cocaine wars -- Conclusion: The drugged battlefields of the 21st century .

In Killer High, Peter Andreas tells the story of war from antiquity to the modern age through the lens of six psychoactive drugs: alcohol, tobacco, caffeine, opium, amphetamines, and cocaine. Armed conflict has become progressively more "drugged" with the global spread of these mind-altering substances. From ancient brews and battles to meth and modern warfare, drugs and war have grown up together and become addicted to each other. By looking back not just years and decades but centuries, Andreas reveals that the drugs-conflict nexus is actually an old story, and that powerful states have been its biggest beneficiaries.

Killer Heels explores the rich cultural history of the high heel and its relation to power, fantasy, sexuality and identity. More than 160 spectacular contemporary and historical shoe designs - from sixteenth-century Venetian platforms to twenty-first-century Christian Louboutins - are presented around six themes: Revival and Reinterpretation, Rising in the East, Glamour and Transgression, Architecture, Metamorphosis and Space Walk. Going beyond the archetypal forms of stiletto, wedge and platform, these extraordinary designs play with the cultural and artistic possibilities of the high heel, use innovative or unexpected materials and push the limits of functionality, wear ability and beauty. Complementing the shoes are stills, sketches and artist statements for six films specially commissioned for the exhibition from Ghada Amer and Reza Farkhondeh, Zach Gold, Steven Klein, Nick Knight, Marilyn Minter and Rashaad Newsome that explore a range of provocative themes and demonstrate the power of the high heel in the collective imagination. In addition, several of the designers included in the exhibition (including Brian Atwood, Zaha Hadid, Pierre Hardy and Christian Louboutin), along with Elizabeth Semmelhack, Curator of the Bata Shoe Museum, contribute thoughts on topics such as their inspiration and design process and the cultural significance of high heels. Beautiful, informative and just plain fun, this collection of killer heels is filled with stunning photos and fashion lore.

Have you ever wanted to direct your own slasher film? Do you ever watch horror movies and find yourself yelling at the screen trying to tell the survivors how stupid they are for running up the stairs instead of out the door? Do you ever side with the Killer in horror movies, critiquing their style and creativity? Step into the original, made-for-Halloween Slasher, a survival horror RPG powered by FATE. In Slasher, there are three main play modes. The Game Master plays as the Director, furnishing the plot, the setting and the supporting cast for the game. Then there are the Survivors, a group of hapless folks who find themselves having a very bad evening. You'll even get to play as the Killer, thinking up creative ways to maim, disembowel and otherwise murder the Survivors. Get ready for the bloodbath of the century with Slasher by Higher Grounds Publishing.

Over the course of a year, in just one national forest in California, raids on illegal marijuana growing operations yielded 19,710 pounds of infrastructure, 138 ounces of restricted poisons, 4,595 pounds of fertilizer, 12 gallons of common pesticides, 5.6 miles of waterlines, and 102 propane bottles. Even as efforts to legalize marijuana accelerate, such “trespass grows” spread exponentially—as does their effect on the environment. The nature of this impact on the land and in the political arena is the pressing issue addressed in Where There’s Smoke. This first-of-its-kind interdisciplinary anthology draws on the insights of scientists, researchers, and activists and ranges across the humanities, natural sciences, and social sciences to explore the troubling environmental consequences of illegal marijuana production on public, private, and tribal lands. Classified as a Schedule 1 drug, marijuana has been a central focus of the so-called War on Drugs—with the perverse result of shifting marijuana production from Mexico to the United States and with unanticipated consequences for the natural environment. Where There’s Smoke assesses the broad spectrum of the policy’s effect on land and water, flora and fauna, as well as the firsthand challenges faced by those tasked with responding to this tangled and often dangerous state of affairs. In its broad scope, varied perspective, and depth of detail, the book will prove essential to an understanding of the complex social and environmental ramifications of marijuana policy and politics in the United States.

Beginning in the fall of 1914, every French soldier on the Western Front received a daily ration of wine from the army. At first it was a modest quarter litre, but by 1917 it had increased to the equivalent of a full bottle each day. The wine ration was intended to sustain morale in the trenches, making the men more willing to endure suffering and boredom. The army also supplied soldiers with doses of distilled alcohol just before attacks to increase their ferocity and fearlessness. This strategic distribution of alcohol was a defining feature of French soldiers’ experiences of the war and amounted to an experimental policy of intoxicating soldiers for military ends. A Thirst for Wine and War explores the French army’s emotional and behavioural conditioning of soldiers through the distribution of a mind-altering drug that was later hailed as one of the army’s “fathers of victory.” The daily wine ration arose from an unexpected set of factors including the demoralization of trench warfare, the wine industry’s fear of losing its main consumers, and medical consensus about the benefits of wine drinking. The army’s related practice of distributing distilled alcohol to embolden soldiers was a double-edged sword, as the men might become unruly. The army implemented regulations and surveillance networks to curb men’s drinking behind the lines, in an attempt to ensure they only drank when it was useful to the war effort. When morale collapsed in spring 1917, the army lost control of this precarious system as drunken soldiers mutinied in the thousands. Discipline was restored only when the army regained command of soldiers’ alcohol consumption. Drawing on a range of archives, personal narratives, and trench journals, A Thirst for Wine and War shows how the French army’s intoxication of its soldiers constituted a unique exercise of biopower deployed on a mass scale.

New York Times and USA Today Bestselling series! L.A. shoe designer Maddie Springer hasn't seen her father since he reportedly ran off to Las Vegas with a showgirl named Lola. So she's shocked when he leaves a desperate plea for help on her answering machine—ending in a loud bang. Gunshot? Car backfire? Never one to leave her curiosity unsatisfied, Maddie straps on her stilettos and, along with her trigger-happy best friend, makes tracks for Sin City in search of her MIA dad. Maddie hits the jackpot, all right. She finds not only her dad, but also a handful of aging drag queens, an organized crime ring smuggling fake Prada pumps, and one relentless killer. Plus, it seems the LAPD's sexiest cop is doing a little Vegas moonlighting of his own. In a town where odds are everything, Maddie bets it all on her ability to out-step a vicious murderer. She just hopes her gamble pays off…before her own luck runs out. Other Books in the High Heels Series: #1 Spying in High Heels #2 Killer in High Heels #3 Undercover in High Heels #3.5 Christmas in High Heels (short story) #4 Alibi in High Heels #5 Mayhem in High Heels #5.5 Honeymoon in High Heels (short story) #5.75 Sweetheart in High Heels (novella) #6 Fearless in High Heels #7 Danger in High Heels #8 Homicide in High Heels #9 Deadly in High Heels What critics are saying about Killer in High Heels: "This amusing whodunit scores big. Maddie's winning return, with her bold comical voice and knack for thinking fast on her strappy slingbacks, will elicit cheers from fans of the growing chick mystery field." ~ Publishers' Weekly "Blending romance and humor, Maddie and her madcap friends are an enjoyable treat." ~ Parkersburg Sentinel "Readers who crave light mystery mixed with romance will love this book!" ~ Fresh Fiction "KILLER IN HIGH HEELS is 'packing' with action, hilarity, danger, almost-sex, and fashion wows and woes. Gemma Halliday gives the reader nothing but pure indulgence and fabulous fun!" ~ Once Upon a Romance "This is a first-rate, humorous mystery and one you can't help but grin and giggle all the way through." ~ Romance Reader at Heart "KILLER IN HIGH HEELS is a humorous, delectable romp you won't want to miss!" ~ Romance Junkies