Amitav Ghosh Live at Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
5x15 event at Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew on February 8th 2024 for a unique live event with acclaimed author Amitav Ghosh. Catch up on this rare UK appearance by one of the world's leading voices on the environmental legacy of colonialism, in conversation with cross-bench peer Rosie Boycott, with an introduction from Kew's Director of Science, Alexandre Antonelli.
In his new book Smoke and Ashes, Amitav Ghosh traces the history of the opium plant, and explores how the opium trade was engineered by the British Empire and became essential to its financial survival. Moving deftly between horticultural histories, the mythologies of capitalism, and the social and cultural repercussions of colonialism, Ghosh reveals the role that one small plant had in the making of our world, now teetering on the edge of catastrophe.
