A Short History of Drunkenness

“This refreshingly guilt-free account of getting sloshed through the ages is a gift to the chalkboard-writers of dive bars the world over, laced as it is with inspirational quotes about the joys of a sniffer.”—The New York Times Book Review

“A light-hearted tour . . . Mr. Forsyth has filled a cabinet with drinking curiosities, which plays to the author’s strengths . . . His breezy style does offer another tangible benefit for the American reader: It is strewn with the shiny baubles of Britishisms related to drink: whiffled, piss-up, squiffy, trolleyed, sozzled and foozled.”—Wall Street Journal

“Hilarious and essential.”—Financial Times

“Wildly entertaining.”—Dallas Observer

“Mark Forsyth has done a sterling job . . . This is a book of some brilliance—probably best consumed with a restorative glass of something by your side.”—Daily Mail

“[With] insightful nuggets of pop-culture history . . . Forsyth, a word addict, writes a bit like the late Kingsley Amis . . . Good fun for tipplers.”—Booklist 

“This entertaining study of drunkenness makes for a racy sprint through human history. . . . Thought-provoking.”—Sunday Times

“Mark Forsyth has enormous fun breezing through 10,000 years of alcoholic history in a little more than 250 pages.”—The Guardian

“Forsyth’s jokes are snappy and well-delivered [and his] writing is charged with energy.”—Mail on Sunday
 
“Forsyth uses charm and wit to breathe life into the booze-soaked sexual rites of the Ancient Egyptians, the sozzled symposiums that inspired great thinkers like Socrates, and, more recently, the rampant rise of saloon culture in the Wild West.”—Eastern Daily Press

“Well researched and recounted with excellent humor . . . [A] delightful romp.”—Daily Express

“An entertaining look back at intoxication and inebriation around the world . . . a brief, sometimes bawdy affair, spiked with trivia.”—History Revealed

“A jaunty look at what booze has done to civilization.”—The Times Saturday Review

“A highly successful blend of the entertaining and the informative.”—The Spectator

“A light-hearted booze cruise through the ages.”—The Tablet