Features
Paperback: 254 pages
Publisher: Routledge; 1 edition August 3, 1999
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0415131820
ISBN-13: 978-0415131827
Product Dimensions:
9.2 x 6.2 x 0.6 inches
Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
Roy Porter
"Liquid Pleasures is vintage Burnett: clear, rich, and satisfying and sparkling with original detail and amusing anecdotes."
--This text refers to the
Library Binding
edition.
Product Review
'The judges greatly admired the depth of research in this book of social history; it will be a mine of useful source material for anyone working in this field. It also contains a useful bibliography, with further copious source material cited in the notes. Despite its factual density, it's also a very good read, as full of colourful anecdote as it is of historical scholarship. The judges felt it would be a great shame if this book was confined to the shelves of academic bookshops and university libraries; the subject matter, the depth of research and the lively treatment of that research deserves a wider audience.' - Andrew Jefford Andre Simon Award judging panel'This is a thorough, thoughtful, judiciously argued and infectiously readable study which fully maintains the high standards which Burnett set in his pervious works on food and housing' the History Association review
'This concise, well-organised and well-documented book makes a most useful contribution to the history of consumption Like most good social history it contains an important element of economic and business history Indeed the key to the success of the book is that it places consumption in the broadest possible context.' - Contemporary British History
'What Burnett has done very effectively is compress a lot of detail about the broad parameters of change into an entertaining and provoking book which raises important questions about the nature of significance of drinks in, and for, modern Britain.' - Business History
'The kind of book which, no pun intended, literally lifts the spirits of an academic book reviewer. It is both readable and entertaining.' - Medical History
Reader Reviews
This is really a fun read, covering British drinking habits, alchoholic and otherwise. It purports to cover several centuries but is really mostly about the late 18th century to the early 20th. My only major gripe is that it is based entirely on secondary sources -other people's work. So as a survey it is very useful, but really doesn't contribute anything new to the scholarship. It is also clearly written by a social scientist -lots of tables and figures, and even the text decribes trends quantitatively. For the qualitative-minded, we are rarely given more than anecdotes about why culturally shifts in national preferences occured. These tend to be obscured by heaps of evidence drawn from new laws, import duties, and marketing schemes. All in all, pleasant reading, but patience with numbers is required.
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