Drink: A Social History

by Andrew Barr (Author)

• Used

  Paperback
  1998

  $4.20

  Andrew Barr's first book, Wine Snobbery, sent shock waves through the wine trade when it was published in 1988. Now Barr turns his attention to our drinking habits in general, and to the cultural, social and political influences that determine what we chose to drink, and with whom. Drink is at the base of social history, which touches on subjects as diverse as the medical prescription of alchohol from biblical times on, the origins of the custom of toasting, and the reasons why the British became a nation of tea-drinkers. But it is also a polemic, which uses history to offer views on issues of current political or medical controversy, such as liberalization of the licensing laws, the opening of borders within the European Community and the possible healthy or unhealthy effects of moderate alchohol consumption.

• Used

  Hardcover
  1995

  $3.25

  This is not a book for would-be wine connoisseurs, nor a tract written for or against the pleasures of alcohol. It is an exploration of our drinking habits, our reasons for drinking, our choice of drinks, and the way these have changed through history. Naturally it covers wine and beer in all their variety, but it ranges over the whole field of drink consumption from distilled spirits to mineral water and from chocolate to Coco-Cola, and it sets them in the context of our changing life-style. Licensing laws and lager louts; the British invention of champagne; Gin Lane; expresso bars; Victorian dinners and the psychology of the British beer drinker: these are just a handful of the topics touched on in this survey of one of mankind's favourite activities. Other work by the author includes Wine Snobbery: An Insider's Guide