A Short History of Drunkenness, Mark Forsyth
A Short History of Drunkenness, Mark Forsyth
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A Short History of Drunkenness
How, Why, Where, and When Humankind Has Gotten Merry from the Stone Age to the Present

Author: Mark Forsyth

Narrator: Simon Vance

Unabridged: 5 hr 34 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Tantor Media

Published: 09/30/2018


Synopsis

From the internationally bestselling author of The Etymologicon, a lively and fascinating exploration of how, throughout history, each civilization has found a way to celebrate, or to control, the eternal human drive to get sloshed

Almost every culture on earth has drink, and where there's drink there's drunkenness. But in every age and in every place drunkenness is a little bit different. It can be religious, it can be sexual, it can be the duty of kings or the relief of peasants. It can be an offering to the ancestors, or a way of marking the end of a day's work. It can send you to sleep, or send you into battle.

Making stops all over the world, A Short History of Drunkenness traces humankind's love affair with booze from our primate ancestors through to the twentieth century, answering every possible question along the way: What did people drink? How much? Who did the drinking? Of the many possible reasons, why? On the way, learn about the Neolithic Shamans, who drank to communicate with the spirit world (no pun intended), marvel at how Greeks got giddy and Sumerians got sauced, and find out how bars in the Wild West were never quite like in the movies.

This is a history of the world at its inebriated best.

About Mark Forsyth

Born in London in 1977, Mark Forsyth (a.k.a The Inky Fool) was given a copy of the Oxford English Dictionary as a christening present and has never looked back. His book The Etymologicon was a Sunday Times Number One Bestseller and his TED Talk "What's a snollygoster?" has had more than half a million views. He has also written a specially commissioned essay "The Unknown Unknown" for Independent Booksellers Week and the introduction for the new edition of the Collins English Dictionary. He lives in London with his dictionaries, and blogs at blog.inkyfool.com.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Paul on March 06, 2018

Great book. Now to get as drunk as 400 rabbits!!......more

Goodreads review by Udit on May 31, 2020

Basically wherever and whenever humans have lived they have gathered together to get intoxicated. As someone has beautifully said- 'Sobriety diminishes,discriminates and says no; drunkenness expands,unites and says yes.' This book is a laugh riot. I mean the way the author has presented it is hilario......more

Goodreads review by Smith on April 18, 2023

Aceasta istorie trebuia spusa. Incepand cu un prim capitol despre betia animalelor cu fructe fermentate gasite, trecand pe urma la epoca preistorica, barurile sumeriene(conduse de femei si unde berea era facut de ele ca in anglia) egiptul, grecia si chiana antica, inperiunul roman. Oprindu se un pic......more

Goodreads review by Anete on July 10, 2020

Nezinu gan, cik daudz patiesības ir šajā darbā, cik autora spekulācijas no pieejamajām vēstures liecībām, bet šis tiešām bija ļoti interesanti un uzjautrinoši. Alkohols un tā izraisītais reibums šķiet ir neatņemama civilizācijas sastāvdaļa. Ēģiptiešu ballītes joprojām šķiet visjautrākās.......more

Goodreads review by Maťa on April 21, 2022

4,5/5 Tak toto bolo prekvapivo skvelé! Nikdy som ani len neuvažovala o tom, akú dôležitosť mal alkohol naprieč históriou a rôznymi kultúrami. Táto kniha bola skutočne výborne spracovaná - dozvedáme sa o postavení alkoholu v spoločnosti v starovekom Grécku, u vikingoch, starovekej Číne, ale aj na divo......more