Drinking for England: The Great English Drinkers and Their Times

by Fergus Linnane

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Summary

This meticulously researched and compelling account tours the ale houses, inns, bars, taverns, and palaces of England to tell the extraordinary story of the English addiction to the bottle through the lives?and often wild times?of individuals who frequented them. At a masquerade party given by James I for the King of Denmark, for instance, a noblewoman playing the Queen of Sheba collapsed at the royal guest’s feet; George IV passed out while dancing at a party and vomited on the floor; William Pitt the Younger was once sick behind the Speaker’s chair in the House of Commons; and Francis Bacon’s hangovers were considered a stimulus to his work. Filled with ribaldry and mirth, this is an intriguing and original look into the history of the nation’s favorite pastime.

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