Inspired by its successful run at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, presents a dryly humorous cultural history of liquor for those who long to drink less—but drink better. Written by two of the UK's top drinks journalists, it celebrates alcohol's influence on life, love, literature, and learning. The amusing alternative and intellectual guide spans the ages from Ancient Egypt to the gin-drenched debauchery of eighteenth-century London to absinthe-induced French impressionist art and beyond. Here you will learn how drink has oiled the wheels of civilization and invigorated the minds of history's greatest figures.