βAn absorbing popular history of one of historyβs most popular drinks.β βBooklist
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Gin has been a drink of kings infused with crushed pearls and rose petals, and a drink of the poor flavored with turpentine and sulfuric acid. Born in alchemistsβ stills and monastery kitchens, its earliest incarnations were juniper flavored medicines used to prevent plague, ease the pains of childbirth, and even to treat a lack of courage.
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In The Book of Gin, Richard Barnett traces the life of this beguiling spirit, once believed to cause a βnew kind of drunkenness.β In the eighteenth century, gin-crazed debauchery (and class conflict) inspired Hogarthβs satirical masterpieces βBeer Streetβ and βGin Lane.β In the nineteenth century, gin was drunk by Napoleonic War naval heroes, at lavish gin palaces, and by homesick colonials, who mixed it with their bitter anti-malarial tonics. In the early twentieth century, the illicit cocktail culture of Prohibition made ginβoften dangerous bathtub ginβfashionable again. And today, with the growth of small-batch distilling, gin has once-again made a comeback.
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Wide-ranging, impeccably researched, and packed with illuminating stories, The Book of Gin is lively and fascinating, an indispensable history of a complex and notorious drink.
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βThe Book of Gin is full of history that will make you grinΒ .Β .Β . An enchanting read.β βCooking by the Book