In Man Walks into a Pub, Pete Brown takes us on a journey through the amazing history of beer, from the first sacred sip of ancient Egyptian bouza to the last pint of lager on a Friday night. It’s an extraordinary tale of yeast-obsessed monks and teetotaling prime ministers; of exploding breweries, a bear in a yellow nylon jacket, and a Canadian who changed the drinking habits of a nation. It’s also the story of the rise of the British pub, from humble origins through an epic, thousand-year struggle to survive bad government and misguided commerce.
| Acknowledgements | xi | |
| Introduction: 'You should have seen us last night!' | 1 | |
| 1. | 'My liver is full of luck' The ancient history of beer drinking | 13 |
| 2. | 'Pissing under the board as they sit' Two thousand years of British boozing | 28 |
| 3. | 'An oblivion of care' The evolution of the pub | 56 |
| 4. | 'The universal Cordial of the Populace' Science, fashion, and the birth of modern beer | 82 |
| 5. | 'Those who are not singing are sprawling' Pubs in the nineteenth century | 108 |
| 6. | 'The greatest of these deadly foes' The fight for the right to get tight | 125 |
| 7. | 'All the culture that is most truly native' When people stopped going to the pub | 158 |
| 8. | 'Keep the bar open, we'll be down in twenty minutes' The home front in World War II | 188 |
| 9. | 'You will be crushed whether you like it or not' How Carling transformed the business of brewing and drinking | 217 |
| 10. | Saccharomyces carlsbergensis: How lager (eventually) conquered Britain | 237 |
| 11. | 'A diet of Pot Noodles, Mother's Pride and Harp lager' Kegs, casks and the decline of bitter | 269 |
| 12. | 'Drinking the advertising' The age of the mega-brands | 294 |
| 13. | 'It was like anywhere and nowhere' The local goes national | 333 |
| 14. | 'Haven't you got homes to go to?' A sort of epilogue | 364 |
| Further reading | 371 | |
| Index | 375 |
Anonymous
Posted August 6, 2010
No text was provided for this review.
Overview
In Man Walks into a Pub, Pete Brown takes us on a journey through the amazing history of beer, from the first sacred sip of ancient Egyptian bouza to the last pint of lager on a Friday night. It’s an extraordinary tale of yeast-obsessed monks and teetotaling prime ministers; of exploding breweries, a bear in a yellow nylon jacket, and a Canadian who changed the drinking habits of a nation. It’s also the story of the rise of the British pub, from humble origins through an epic, thousand-year struggle to survive ...