Whether talking about America or China, caffeine or nicotine, antiquity or modernity, Courtwright has a sureness of touch and a completeness of information which are consistently impressive. Forces of Habit is beautifully written in a controlled, easy, fluent style. This book should be of interest to a wide range of scholarly and lay readers in the fields of history, medicine, health policy, politics, legal studies, and international relations. There is no other book like it.
-- Roy Porter, author of The Creation of the Modern World