Spirits of America: A Social History of Alcohol (Hardcover) (ISBN-13: 9781592132140)

Thousands of years ago, before Christ or Buddha or Muhammad...before the Roman Empire rose or the Colossus of Rhodes fell, Eric Burns writes, people in Asia Minor were drinking beer. So begins an account as entertaining as it is extensive, of alcohol's journey through worldOCoand, more important, AmericanOCohistory. In "The Spirits of America," Burns relates that drinking was the first national pastime, and shows how it shaped American politics and culture from the earliest colonial days. He details the transformation of alcohol from virtue to vice and back again, how it was thought of as both scourge and medicine. He tells us how the great American thirst developed over the centuries, and how reform movements and laws (some of which, Burn s says, were comic masterpieces of the legislator's art) sprang up to combat it. Burns brings back to life such vivid characters as Carrie Nation and other crusaders against drink. He informs us that, in the final analysis, Prohibition, the culmination of the reformers' quest, had as much to do with politics and economics and geography as it did with spirituous beverage. Filled with the famous, the infamous, and the undeservedly anonymous, "The Spirits of America" is a masterpiece of the historian's art. It will stand as a classic chronicleOCowitty, perceptive, and comprehensiveOCoof how this country was created by and continues to be shaped by its ever-changing relationship to the cocktail shaker and the keg."

Author: Eric Burns
ISBN-10: 1592132146
ISBN-13: 9781592132140
Publisher: Temple University Press
Language: English
Published: 09/05/2003
Pages: 376
Format: Hardcover
Weight: 1.42lbs
Size: 9.18h x 6.38w x 1.11d

Review Citation(s):
Univ PR Books for Public Libry 01/01/2004 pg. 42 - Outstanding
Booklist 09/01/2003 pg. 28
Library Journal 10/01/2003 pg. 102
Choice 04/01/2004 pg. 1533