All or Nothing: A Short History of Abstinence in America

A completely original exploration of the abstinence movement in America — from alcohol to sex to meat.

America's long love affair with abstinence goes back to the early nineteenth century, when thousands of men and women suddenly stopped drinking hard liquor. Consistency then demanded that they give up all their other vices — beer and cider, tobacco, coffee, meat, pickles, pies, masturbation, and more. Two centuries later, the ideal of abstinence has lost none of its power to influence how ...