‘I here present you, courteous reader, with the record of a remarkable period in my life: according to my application of it, I trust that it will prove not merely an interesting record, but in a considerable degree useful and instructive.’ So begins ‘The Confessions of an English Opium-Eater.’ Originally published in two parts in the ‘London Magazine’ in 1821, it is a gripping account of one Englishman’s addiction to opium. Thomas De Quincey details the effects of his opium use and in so doing warns the reader of the dangers and terrors of serious drug addiction.