It's an extraordinary tale of yeast-obsessed monks and teetotal prime ministers; of how pale ale fuelled an Empire and weak bitter won a world war; of exploding breweries, a bear in a yellow nylon jacket and a Canadian bloke who changed the dringking habits of a nation. It's also the story of the rise of the pub from humble origins through an epic, thousand-year struggle to survive misunderstanding, bad government and misguided commerce. The history of beer in Britain is a social history of the nation itself, full of catastrophe, heroism and an awful lot of hangovers.
'a pleasant antidote to more po-faced histories of beer' Guardian
'Like a good drinking companion, Brown tells a remarkable story: a stream of fascinating facts, etymologies and pub-related urban phenomena' TLS
'Packed with bar-room bet-winning facts and entertaining digressions, this is a book into which every pub-goer will want to dip.' Express
Inhaltsverzeichnis
Section - i: Preface to the Second Edition Acknowledgements - ii: Acknowledgements Introduction - iii: Introduction `You should have seen us last night!' Chapter - 1: `My liver is full of luck The ancient history of beer drinking Chapter - 2: `Pissing under the board as they sit Two thousand years of British boozing Chapter - 3: `An oblivion of care The evolution of the pub Chapter - 4: `The universal Cordial of the Populace Science, fashion, and the birth of modern beer Chapter - 5: `Those who are not singing are sprawling Pubs in the nineteenth century Chapter - 6: `The greatest of these deadly foes The fight for the right to get tight Chapter - 7: `All the culture that is most truly native When people stopped going to the pub Chapter - 8: `Keep the bar open, we ll be down in twenty minutes The home front in World War II Chapter - 9: `You will be crushed whether you like it or not How Carling transformed the business of brewing and drinking Chapter - 10: Saccharomyces carlsbergensis: How lager (eventually) conquered Britain Chapter - 11: `A diet of Pot Noodles, Mother s Pride and Harp lager Kegs, casks and the decline of bitter Chapter - 12: `Drinking the advertising The age of the mega-brands Chapter - 13: `It was like anywhere and nowhere The local goes national Chapter - 14: `Haven t you got homes to go to? A sort of epilogue Chapter - iv: Further reading
