Alcohol: Social And Cultural History, A

Description:
Why are we so ambivalent about alcohol? Are we torn between our love of a drink and the need to restrict, or even prohibit, alcohol? How did saloon culture arise in the United States? Why did wine become such a ubiquitous part of French culture? Alcohol: A Social and Cultural History examines these questions and many more as it considers how drink has evolved in its functions and uses from the late Middle Ages to the present day in the West. Alcohol has long played an important role in societies throughout history, and understanding its consumption can reveal a great deal about a culture. This book discusses a range of issues, including domestic versus recreational use, the history of alcoholism, and the relationship between alcohol and violence, religion, sexuality, and medicine. It looks at how certain forms of alcohol speak about class, gender and place. Drawing on examples from Europe, North America and Australia, this book provides an overview of the many roles alcohol has played over the past five centuries.

Review:
'In their exploration of these meanings [of alcohol in a specific place at a specific time], the authors shed light on the power relations underlying shifts in alcohol consumption patterns and the tensions that often arise between groups with conflicting vested interest.' Yoon Hui Kim, Journal of Biosocial Science 'A simple, lucid yet interesting volume that is bound to keep you reading ... Overall this is a light-mood, good times, effortless-reading compilation and a lot like a dessert.' Internet Journal of Book Reviews

Table of Contents:
Part I: Alcohol in Early Modern Europe, ca. 1500-1800 * 'The Art of Drinking in Sixteenth and Seventeenth-Century Europe'--Ken Albala, University of the Pacific * 'Europe Divided: Wine and Beer in the Reformation'--Mack P. Holt, George Mason University * 'Drinking and Alehouses in the Diary of an English Mercer's Apprentice, 1663-1674'--A.Lynn Martin, University of Adelaide * ''To the King o'er the Water': Scotland and Claret, c. 1660-1763'--Charles Cameron Ludington, Columbia University * 'Taverns and the Public Sphere in the French Revolution'--Thomas Brennan, United States Naval AcademyPart II: Alcohol in Modern Europe, 1800 to the Present'Drink, Sociability and Class in France, 1789-1945'--W. Scott Haine, University of Maryland, University College * 'Mon docteur le vin: Wine and Health in France, 1900-1950'--Kim Mulholland, University of Minnesota * ' A Social History of the Russian Tavern (Kabak)'--Patricia Herlihy, Brown University * 'In Vino Veritas: The Construction of Alcoholic Disease in Liberal Italy, 1880-1914'--Paul A. Garfinkel, Harvard UniversityPart III: Alcohol in the New World * 'Drinking in the United States: A Kaleidoscope in Motion, 1600-2000'--Jack S. Blocker, Jr., University of Western Ontario * 'Tippling Philosophers: Taverns, Drink, and the Expansion of the Public Sphere in Southern New England, 1740-1820'--David W. Conroy, Independent Scholar * 'The Lore of the Brotherhood: Continuity and Change in Urban American Saloon Culture, 1870-1920'--Madelon M. Powers, University of New Orleans * 'Drinking the Good Life: Australia c.1880-1980'--Diane Kirkby, La Trobe University

Author Biography:
Mack Holt is Professor of History at George Mason University.