Alcohol: The World's Favorite Drug - Softcover

Edwards, Griffith

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0312302363 ISBN 13: 9780312302368

Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin, 2003

Synopsis

Alcohol is everywhere. Walk down any street in the western world and before long your feet will kick against an empty beer can, or your attention will be captured by an alluring advertisement that suggests that alcohol can magically transform your life. Its use is integral to many aspects of popular culture, but it is also a substance that has at times been preached against and even prohibited.

In this book, Griffith Edwards uses both history and chemistry to explore the whole issue of alcohol. Is it medicine, a delightful potion, poison, or a mysterious combination of all three? What part has alcohol played in various cultures and religions? Why do different people behave differently when drunk? What cures for habitual inebriation were popular in the past? Why is alcoholism considered a disease? What is "safe drinking"? Is alcohol good for the heart? Do current treatments work? Does Alcoholics Anonymous have the answer?

Armed with the best solid information science, history, and sociology have to offer, Edwards asks how, in the light of this knowledge, society might in the future better handle this pleasure-giving, somewhat dangerous drug. Can society get its pleasure out of alcohol without the inevitable suffering that accompanies misuse? If so, what steps should we take to protect ourselves and others?

Already considered in England to be a classic in the field, Alcohol will prove to be fascinating reading for the drinker and nondrinker alike.

About this title

Product Description:

Alcohol Alcohol is everywhere. Walk down any street in the western world and before long your feet will kick against an empty beer can, or your attention will be captured by an alluring advertisement that suggests that alcohol can magically transform your life. Its use is integral to many aspects of popular culture, but it is also a substance that has at times been preached against and even prohibited. In... Full description

Review:

In every part of this great metropolis, whoever shall pass along the streets, will find wretchedness stretched upon the pavement, insensible and motionless.

No, this is not a scene after closing time in an English town today, although it could well be. It comes from a House of Lords debate on the social dangers of alcohol in 1743. Such historical map-drawing forms the robust skeleton of Alcohol: the Ambiguous Molecule, Griffith Edwards' superb and riveting survey.

Alcohol is a compelling subject for such a survey for at least two reasons: first, because there is a critical mass of historical and scientific material that remains inaccessible to the lay reader; second, because booze seems to be so naturalized in British culture that, whilst we make shake our heads at scenes of drunken football hooligans, we actually know very little about our chemical companion. What really impresses is how much Edwards fits into a compact volume. He gathers together the streams of alcohol running through our culture and our bodies and assesses their effects in elegant and clear prose. Along the way, he explores the meanings of alcohol reflected through our religious and lay rituals and the bawdy coupling of Britannia and beer, as well as investigating the alchemy of alcohol that allegedly turns us into our real selves "only more so". He also unpacks the chemistry of our metaphors of the social lubricator, the poison, and the hair of the dog. And for those in need of pub conversation, the vivid descriptions of the different effects of alcohol in different cultures will startle and disturb your fellow drinkers. Whether you are an abstainer, social drinker, or concerned about the effects of drinking on your health, your relationships, and your society, this is a measure of alcohol that can make you feel even clearer headed in the morning. --Christine Buttery

About this edition

• Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
• Publication date: 2003
• ISBN 10: 0312302363
• ISBN 13: 9780312302368
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 246