"Confessions of an English Opium-Eater" by Thomas De Quincey is an autobiographical account published in 1821. De Quincey chronicles his laudanum addiction and its profound effects on his life, from the pleasures of early use to the nightmares and visions of dependency. Beginning with his troubled youth as a homeless runaway in London, he traces his relationship with opium through vivid, seductive prose that itself mirrors the drug's allure. This groundbreaking work won De Quincey overnight fame and shaped public understanding of opium for generations.