Rebellious spirits: the illicit history of Booze in Britain

Description

A delicious history of the secret, exciting and often dangerous world of illicit spirits The history of spirits in Britain has more illicit in it than licit. Even the official histories of brands that trade heavily on their authentic historical roots are full of gaps and short on detail. From their beginnings in ancient religious ceremonies, spirits have often been consumed in secret, and as swiftly as they have risen to popularity, they have been suppressed. Their story takes in the first Malt Laws in Scotland, the restriction on gin in Hogarth's London in the eighteenth century and the bootleggers of the Second World War. Today the state of illicit spirits is a darker and more sobering affair, of foreign gangs and organised crime. But legal versions of the bootlegging experience are flourishing, and the reader is taken on a whistle-stop tour of the best speakeasies to be found. It is a history that is dark, dangerous and utterly fascinating; this book will not... Contents Introduction vii Chapter 1: Monks and Monasteries 1 Chapter 2: They'll Never Take Our Whisky 21 Chapter 3: The Gin Craze 55 Chapter 4: Pure Irish Spirit 91 Chapter 5: Worse Things Happen at Sea 115 Chapter 6: We'll Drink Again 149 Chapter 7: A Scottish Fairy Tale 179 Chapter 8: Exploding Garages and Secret Speakeasies 201 Recommended Further Reading 239 Acknowledgements 241 Index 243