Craze

Craze

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Summary

Gin took London by storm in the first half of the 18th century. Cheap, potent, and readily available, it aided London's poor in escaping the wretchedness of their lives and was considered a public menace by Daniel Defoe and Samuel Johnson. This is an account of where it came from, who drank it, how it was percieved, and how they

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Craze by Jessica Warner

An intimate, irreverent history of the 'gin craze' in eighteenth-century London 'Gin took London by storm in the first half of the 18th century. It 'was the original urban drug,' says Warner in this intriguing slice of social history. 'Cheap, potent, and readily available,' it aided London's poor in escaping the wretchedness of their lives and was considered a public menace by Daniel Defoe and Samuel Johnson. (Hogarth's famous print Gin Lane imagined a nightmarish world destroyed by a demonic drink.) Warner gives us the whole story of gin: where it came from (Holland), who drank it (a large percentage were women), how it was perceived (as a threat to the nation), and how legislative efforts to curb consumption fared (badly).
Jessica Warner is the author of Craze: Gin and Debauchery in an Age of Reason. Born and raised in Washington DC, she is a graduate of Princeton and Yale. She is an assistant professor at Toronto University.
SKU Unavailable
ISBN 13 9781861976703
ISBN 10 1861976704
Title Craze
Author Jessica Warner
Condition Unavailable
Binding Type Hardback
Publisher Profile Books Ltd
Year published 2003-01-23
Number of pages 288
Cover note Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.