amazing slice of life from pre druglaw riddled england, India, China etc.
Its so hard to get a doctor to give you such advice as 'inject morphine and when its stops having the necessary/desired effects switch to cocaine and visa versa', this (for me) shoves two fingers up at nearly all other drug education especially as it doesn't seem to have any major bad effects he even quits all drugs when returning to england with no big deal just a minor annoyance compared to what I have been told by mass media this would be impossible.
Even when the author drifts off into attempting to explain the intense and bizarre effects of his various drugs, I found pleasure in his theories and philosophies .
The book is massively racist in the way you would expect of around 1900 .
There are incredible insights into all manner of culture, which creates the same huge desire for exploration into more countries just as James has, the boredom and monotony of London is painful .Such a Good read one of the only books I finished as teenager , I got so much from it.

Also this must be one of the fist motorbike riders biography's ever written! definitely the fist to cover all ground he did, incredible modifications on his bike make you grow even fonder of James ( )