A comic history of humankind's love affair with booze,from thebestselling author of The Etymologicon
'Haha!...Highly suitable for Xmas!'- Margaret Atwood
Almost every culture on earth has drink,and where there's drink there's drunkenness. But in every age and in every place drunkenness is a little bit different. It can be religious,it can be sexual,it can be the duty of kings or the relief of peasants. It can be an offering to the ancestors,or a way of marking the end of a day's work. It can send you to sleep,or send you into battle.
A Short History of Drunkenness traces humankind's love affair with booze from our primate ancestors through to Prohibition,answering every possible question along the way: What did people drink How much Who did the drinking Of the many possible reasons,why On the way,learn about the Neolithic Shamans,who drank to communicate with the spirit world (no pun intended),marvel at how Greeks got giddy and Romans got rat-arsed,and find out how bars in the Wild West were never quite like in the movies.
This is a history of the world at its inebriated best.
Publisher: Penguin Books LtdISBN: 9780241359242Number of pages: 256Weight: 181 gDimensions: 198 x 129 x 16 mm
MEDIA REVIEWS
'Forsyth's jokes are snappy and well delivered. Unlike most comical writers he never falls into the trap of confusing long-windedness with irony'- Craig Brown,The Mail on Sunday
'This entertaining study of drunkenness makes for a racy sprint through human history'- Christopher Hart,The Sunday Times
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