His Majesty the Fly Agaric

The new book by the famous mycologist-popularizer Mikhail Vishnevsky is dedicated to one of our most famous mushrooms - the red fly agaric. This mushroom has made its mark in myths and legends, in ancient, medieval, and modern history, in... medicine, and in cooking.

The publication includes a variety of information: scientific and popular, useful for mushroom hunters and simply fascinating. It examines the historical ("shamanic mushroom") and modern uses of the red fly agaric, its "relationship with the law", the use of the fly agaric as a medicinal mushroom, and its chemical and pharmacological aspects.

At the end of the book, a fascinating question is raised about the joint evolution of hosts and parasites, and a hypothesis is proposed about the control by humans over a whole range of living organisms.