Anatomy of Addiction is the astonishing account of the years-long cocoaine use of Sigmund Freud, young ambitious neurologist, and William Halsted, the equally young, pathfinding surgeon. Markel writes of the physical and emotional damage caused by the then-heralded wonder drug, and how each man ultimately changed the world in spite of it--or because of it. One became the father of psychoanalysis; the other, of modern surgery.

Howard Markel, professor of pediatrics and communicable diseases and director of the Center for the History of Medicine, is the George E. Wantz Distinguished Professor of the History of Medicine and author, co-author, co-editor of ten books including the award-winning Quarantine! East European Jewish Immigrants and the New York City Epidemics of 1892 and When Germs Travel: Six Major Epidemics That Have Invaded America Since 1900 and the Fears They Have Unleashed.

Daniel Herwitz has been director of the Institute for the Humanities and Mary Fair Croushore Professor of the Humanities at the University since 2002. He also holds professorships in comparative literature, philosophy, and history of art, and is adjunct professor in screen arts and culture.