Man Walks Into a Pub: A Sociable History of Beer

by Pete Brown

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 bad government and misguided commerce.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780330412209
Publisher:	Pan Publishing
Publication date:	06/04/2010
Pages:	387
Product dimensions:	5.10(w) x 7.70(h) x 1.20(d)

Table of Contents

	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

Editorial Reviews

Like a good drinking companion, Pete Brown tells a remarkable story: a stream of fascinating facts, etymologies, and pub-related urban phenomena.” —The Times Literary Supplement

From the Publisher