The Truth About Opium [electronic resource] : Being a Refutation of the Fallacies of the Anti-Opium Society and a Defence of the Indo-China Opium Trade

Based on a series of talks on the controversial subject of opium use and trafficking, The Truth About Opium asserts that much of the propaganda disseminated in the West about the drug has been exaggerated, and in some instances, entirely false. Brereton draws on his own experiences and observations in China to weave a compelling counterargument.

In this rich compilation, Emeka Nwosu takes the reader to a journey of the issues that have helped to shape discourses on various aspects of the Nigerian state and society. The articles, originally published in his weekly column in the premier Nigerian daily newspaper, ThisDay, not only show his perspectives on these issues when they were written but also reveal how discussions on some of those issues have evolved over time and how they have mutated today.

Journalists, especially those who maintain regular columns, are often said to write 'history in a hurry'. For experienced writers like the author whose writings are research-based, it does not mean that what they write about is factually wrong but simply that their writings are infused with the passions and emotions that attended those issues as they unfolded.

This collection is therefore not only informed commentaries on some of the issues that have shaped the contour of the Nigerian state and society over the years but a good trip on the passions and emotions that attended those discourses. The articles, 66 of them, are written with remarkable candour and gusto and therefore a delight to read. They form a very important contribution to the corpus of works on Nigerian politics and society.

American satirist and critic Ambrose Bierce may be best remembered for his caustic wit, but he was also a first-rate prose stylist who put a lot of effort into shaping the next generation of journalists and writers. Write it Right is Bierce's tough-love compendium of unforgivable literary sins.