Alcohol in World History

Download Alcohol in World History PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Routledge
ISBN 13 : 1317548698
Total Pages : 178 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (175 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Alcohol in World History by : Gina Hames

Download or read book Alcohol in World History written by Gina Hames and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2014-08-21 with total page 178 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From the origins of drinking to the use and abuse of alcohol in the present day, this global historical study draws on approaches and research from biology, anthropology, sociology and psychology. Topics covered include: the impact of colonialism alcohol before the world economy industrialization and alcohol globalization, consumer society, and alcohol. Gina Hames argues that the production, trade, consumption, and regulation of alcohol have shaped virtually every civilization in numerous ways. It has perpetuated the development of both domestic and international trade; helped create identity and define religion; provided a tool for oppression as well as a tool for cultural and political resistance; and has supplied governments with essential revenues as well as a means of control over minority groups. Alcohol in World History is one of the first studies to pull together such a wide range of sources in order to compare the role of alcohol throughout time and across both western and non-western civilizations.

Drink

Download Drink PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Penguin
ISBN 13 : 1440631263
Total Pages : 560 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (46 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Drink by : Iain Gately

Download or read book Drink written by Iain Gately and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2008-07-03 with total page 560 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A spirited look at the history of alcohol, from the dawn of civilization to the modern day Alcohol is a fundamental part of Western culture. We have been drinking as long as we have been human, and for better or worse, alcohol has shaped our civilization. Drink investigates the history of this Jekyll and Hyde of fluids, tracing mankind's love/hate relationship with alcohol from ancient Egypt to the present day. Drink further documents the contribution of alcohol to the birth and growth of the United States, taking in the War of Independence, the Pennsylvania Whiskey revolt, the slave trade, and the failed experiment of national Prohibition. Finally, it provides a history of the world's most famous drinks-and the world's most famous drinkers. Packed with trivia and colorful characters, Drink amounts to an intoxicating history of the world.

Alcohol in World History

Download Alcohol in World History PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Routledge
ISBN 13 : 1317548701
Total Pages : 161 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (175 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Alcohol in World History by : Gina Hames

Download or read book Alcohol in World History written by Gina Hames and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2014-08-21 with total page 161 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Presents a history of the effect of alcohol in world history and argues that the production, trade, consumption, and regulation of alcohol has shaped virtually every civilization.

Alcohol

Download Alcohol PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : UNC Press Books
ISBN 13 : 1469617609
Total Pages : 381 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (696 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Alcohol by : Roderick Phillips

Download or read book Alcohol written by Roderick Phillips and published by UNC Press Books. This book was released on 2014 with total page 381 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Presents a history of alcohol, discussing its social and economic impact and the tensions between those who saw alcohol as a healthy alternative to untreated water and the views of governments and religious bodies, which saw it as a source of social instability.

A History of the World in 6 Glasses

Download A History of the World in 6 Glasses PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Bloomsbury Publishing USA
ISBN 13 : 0802718590
Total Pages : 322 pages
Book Rating : 4.8/5 (27 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis A History of the World in 6 Glasses by : Tom Standage

Download or read book A History of the World in 6 Glasses written by Tom Standage and published by Bloomsbury Publishing USA. This book was released on 2009-05-26 with total page 322 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: New York Times Bestseller * Soon to be a TV series starring Dan Aykroyd “There aren't many books this entertaining that also provide a cogent crash course in ancient, classical and modern history.” -Los Angeles Times Beer, wine, spirits, coffee, tea, and Coca-Cola: In Tom Standage's deft, innovative account of world history, these six beverages turn out to be much more than just ways to quench thirst. They also represent six eras that span the course of civilization-from the adoption of agriculture, to the birth of cities, to the advent of globalization. A History of the World in 6 Glasses tells the story of humanity from the Stone Age to the twenty-first century through each epoch's signature refreshment. As Standage persuasively argues, each drink is in fact a kind of technology, advancing culture and catalyzing the intricate interplay of different societies. After reading this enlightening book, you may never look at your favorite drink in quite the same way again.

Alcohol and Temperance in Modern History

Download Alcohol and Temperance in Modern History PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : ABC-CLIO
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 448 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (91 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Alcohol and Temperance in Modern History by : Jack S. Blocker

Download or read book Alcohol and Temperance in Modern History written by Jack S. Blocker and published by ABC-CLIO. This book was released on 2003-12-17 with total page 448 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A comprehensive encyclopedia on all aspects of the production, consumption, and social impact of alcohol. Alcohol and Temperance in Modern History: An International Encyclopedia spans the history of alcohol production and consumption from the development of distilled spirits and modern manufacturing and distribution methods to the present. Authoritative and unbiased, it brings together the work of hundreds of experts from a variety of disciplines with an emphasis on the extraordinary wealth of scholarship developed in the past several decades. Its nearly 500 alphabetically organized entries range beyond the principal alcoholic beverages and major producers and retailers to explore attitudes toward alcohol in various countries and religions, traditional drinking occasions and rituals, and images of drinking and temperance in art, painting, literature, and drama. Other entries describe international treaties and organizations related to alcohol production and distribution, global consumption patterns, and research and treatment institutions, as well as temperance, prohibition, and antiprohibitionist efforts worldwide. 500 A-Z entries on the production and use of the principal alcoholic beverages, cultural representations, temperance movements, research, treatment, and forms of regulation and prohibition in the United States and around the world Written by 170+ international scholars from the disciplines of history, anthropology, medicine, political science, cultural studies, and the law A chronology of major events in the history of alcohol and its social response since the 18th century Numerous drawings and illustrations such as historical photographs, vintage lithographs, posters, and product labels representing early advertising

Alcohol in America

Download Alcohol in America PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : National Academies Press
ISBN 13 : 0309034493
Total Pages : 136 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (9 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Alcohol in America by : United States Department of Transportation

Download or read book Alcohol in America written by United States Department of Transportation and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 1985-02-01 with total page 136 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Alcohol is a killerâ€"1 of every 13 deaths in the United States is alcohol-related. In addition, 5 percent of the population consumes 50 percent of the alcohol. The authors take a close look at the problem in a "classy little study," as The Washington Post called this book. The Library Journal states, "...[T]his is one book that addresses solutions....And it's enjoyably readable....This is an excellent review for anyone in the alcoholism prevention business, and good background reading for the interested layperson." The Washington Post agrees: the book "...likely will wind up on the bookshelves of counselors, politicians, judges, medical professionals, and law enforcement officials throughout the country."

Doctors and Distillers

Download Doctors and Distillers PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Penguin
ISBN 13 : 0143134922
Total Pages : 369 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (431 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Doctors and Distillers by : Camper English

Download or read book Doctors and Distillers written by Camper English and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2022-07-19 with total page 369 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “At last, a definitive guide to the medicinal origins of every bottle behind the bar! This is the cocktail book of the year, if not the decade.” —Amy Stewart, author of The Drunken Botanist and Wicked Plants “A fascinating book that makes a brilliant historical case for what I’ve been saying all along: alcohol is good for you…okay maybe it’s not technically good for you, but [English] shows that through most of human history, it’s sure beat the heck out of water.” —Alton Brown, creator of Good Eats Beer-based wound care, deworming with wine, whiskey for snakebites, and medicinal mixers to defeat malaria, scurvy, and plague: how today's tipples were the tonics of old. Alcohol and Medicine have an inextricably intertwined history, with innovations in each altering the path of the other. The story stretches back to ancient times, when beer and wine were used to provide nutrition and hydration, and were employed as solvents for healing botanicals. Over time, alchemists distilled elixirs designed to cure all diseases, monastic apothecaries developed mystical botanical liqueurs, traveling physicians concocted dubious intoxicating nostrums, and the drinks we’re familiar with today began to take form. In turn, scientists studied fermentation and formed the germ theory of disease, and developed an understanding of elemental gases and anesthetics. Modern cocktails like the Old-Fashioned, Gimlet, and Gin and Tonic were born as delicious remedies for diseases and discomforts. In Doctors and Distillers, cocktails and spirits expert Camper English reveals how and why the contents of our medicine and liquor cabinets were, until surprisingly recently, one and the same.

Smashing the Liquor Machine

Download Smashing the Liquor Machine PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Oxford University Press
ISBN 13 : 0190841591
Total Pages : 753 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (98 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Smashing the Liquor Machine by : Mark Lawrence Schrad

Download or read book Smashing the Liquor Machine written by Mark Lawrence Schrad and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2021-06-22 with total page 753 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is the history of temperance and prohibition as you've never read it before: redefining temperance as a progressive, global, pro-justice movement that affected virtually every significant world leader from the eighteenth through early twentieth centuries. When most people think of the prohibition era, they think of speakeasies, rum runners, and backwoods fundamentalists railing about the ills of strong drink. In other words, in the popular imagination, it is a peculiarly American history. Yet, as Mark Lawrence Schrad shows in Smashing the Liquor Machine, the conventional scholarship on prohibition is extremely misleading for a simple reason: American prohibition was just one piece of a global phenomenon. Schrad's pathbreaking history of prohibition looks at the anti-alcohol movement around the globe through the experiences of pro-temperance leaders like Vladimir Lenin, Leo Tolstoy, Thomás Masaryk, Kemal Atatürk, Mahatma Gandhi, and anti-colonial activists across Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Middle East. Schrad argues that temperance wasn't "American exceptionalism" at all, but rather one of the most broad-based and successful transnational social movements of the modern era. In fact, Schrad offers a fundamental re-appraisal of this colorful era to reveal that temperance forces frequently aligned with progressivism, social justice, liberal self-determination, democratic socialism, labor rights, women's rights, and indigenous rights. Placing the temperance movement in a deep global context, forces us to fundamentally rethink its role in opposing colonial exploitation throughout American history as well. Prohibitionism united Native American chiefs like Little Turtle and Black Hawk; African-American leaders Frederick Douglass, Ida Wells, and Booker T. Washington; suffragists Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Susan B. Anthony, and Frances Willard; progressives from William Lloyd Garrison to William Jennings Bryan; writers F.E.W. Harper and Upton Sinclair, and even American presidents from Thomas Jefferson and Abraham Lincoln to Theodore Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson. Progressives rather than puritans, the global temperance movement advocated communal self-protection against the corrupt and predatory "liquor machine" that had become exceedingly rich off the misery and addictions of the poor around the world, from the slums of South Asia to the beerhalls of Central Europe to the Native American reservations of the United States. Unlike many traditional "dry" histories, Smashing the Liquor Machine gives voice to minority and subaltern figures who resisted the global liquor industry, and further highlights that the impulses that led to the temperance movement were far more progressive and variegated than American readers have been led to believe.

A History of Alcohol and Drugs in Modern South Asia

Download A History of Alcohol and Drugs in Modern South Asia PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Routledge
ISBN 13 : 1317916824
Total Pages : 248 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (179 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis A History of Alcohol and Drugs in Modern South Asia by : Harald Fischer-Tiné

Download or read book A History of Alcohol and Drugs in Modern South Asia written by Harald Fischer-Tiné and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2014-01-03 with total page 248 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: At the beginning of the 21st century, alcoholism, transnational drug trafficking and drug addiction constitute major problems in various South Asian countries. The production, circulation and consumption of intoxicating substances created (and responded to) social upheavals in the region and had widespread economic, political and cultural repercussions on an international level. This book looks at the cultural, social, and economic history of intoxicants in South Asia, and analyses the role that alcohol and drugs have played in the region. The book explores the linkages between changing meanings of intoxicating substances, the making of and contestations over colonial and national regimes of regulation, economics, and practices and experiences of consumption. It shows the development of current meanings of intoxicants in South Asia – in terms of politics, cultural norms and identity formation – and the way in which the history of drugs and alcohol is enmeshed in the history of modern empires and nation states — even in a country in which a staunch teetotaller and active anti-drug crusader like Mohandas Gandhi is presented as the ‘father of the nation’. Primarily a historical analysis, the book also includes perspectives from Modern Indology and Cultural Anthropology and situates developments in South Asia in wider imperial and global contexts. It is of interest to scholars working on the social and cultural history of alcohol and drugs, South Asian Studies and Global History.

Girly Drinks

Download Girly Drinks PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Harlequin
ISBN 13 : 1488075913
Total Pages : 409 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (88 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Girly Drinks by : Mallory O'Meara

Download or read book Girly Drinks written by Mallory O'Meara and published by Harlequin. This book was released on 2021-10-19 with total page 409 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: *A Finalist for the Spirited Award for Best New Book on Drinks Culture, History or Spirits* “At last, the feminist history of booze we’ve been waiting for!” —Amy Stewart, author of The Drunken Botanist The James Beard Award-winning history of women drinking through the ages Strawberry daiquiris. Skinny martinis. Vodka sodas with lime. These are the cocktails that come in sleek-stemmed glasses, bright colors and fruity flavors—these are the Girly Drinks. From the earliest days of civilization, alcohol has been at the center of social rituals and cultures worldwide. But when exactly did drinking become a gendered act? And why have bars long been considered “places for men” when, without women, they might not even exist? With whip-smart insight and boundless curiosity, Girly Drinks unveils an entire untold history of the female distillers, drinkers and brewers who have played a vital role in the creation and consumption of alcohol, from ancient Sumerian beer goddess Ninkasi to iconic 1920s bartender Ada Coleman. Filling a crucial gap in culinary history, O’Meara dismantles the long-standing patriarchal traditions at the heart of these very drinking cultures, in the hope that readers everywhere can look to each celebrated woman in this book—and proudly have what she’s having.

Vodka Politics

Download Vodka Politics PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Oxford University Press
ISBN 13 : 0199912459
Total Pages : 512 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (999 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Vodka Politics by : Mark Lawrence Schrad

Download or read book Vodka Politics written by Mark Lawrence Schrad and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2014-01-06 with total page 512 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Russia is famous for its vodka, and its culture of extreme intoxication. But just as vodka is central to the lives of many Russians, it is also central to understanding Russian history and politics. In Vodka Politics, Mark Lawrence Schrad argues that debilitating societal alcoholism is not hard-wired into Russians' genetic code, but rather their autocratic political system, which has long wielded vodka as a tool of statecraft. Through a series of historical investigations stretching from Ivan the Terrible through Vladimir Putin, Vodka Politics presents the secret history of the Russian state itself-a history that is drenched in liquor. Scrutinizing (rather than dismissing) the role of alcohol in Russian politics yields a more nuanced understanding of Russian history itself: from palace intrigues under the tsars to the drunken antics of Soviet and post-Soviet leadership, vodka is there in abundance. Beyond vivid anecdotes, Schrad scours original documents and archival evidence to answer provocative historical questions. How have Russia's rulers used alcohol to solidify their autocratic rule? What role did alcohol play in tsarist coups? Was Nicholas II's ill-fated prohibition a catalyst for the Bolshevik Revolution? Could the Soviet Union have become a world power without liquor? How did vodka politics contribute to the collapse of both communism and public health in the 1990s? How can the Kremlin overcome vodka's hurdles to produce greater social well-being, prosperity, and democracy into the future? Viewing Russian history through the bottom of the vodka bottle helps us to understand why the "liquor question" remains important to Russian high politics even today-almost a century after the issue had been put to bed in most every other modern state. Indeed, recognizing and confronting vodka's devastating political legacies may be the greatest political challenge for this generation of Russia's leadership, as well as the next.

The SAGE Encyclopedia of Alcohol

Download The SAGE Encyclopedia of Alcohol PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : SAGE Publications
ISBN 13 : 1483331083
Total Pages : 1674 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (833 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis The SAGE Encyclopedia of Alcohol by : Scott C. Martin

Download or read book The SAGE Encyclopedia of Alcohol written by Scott C. Martin and published by SAGE Publications. This book was released on 2014-12-16 with total page 1674 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Alcohol consumption goes to the very roots of nearly all human societies. Different countries and regions have become associated with different sorts of alcohol, for instance, the “beer culture” of Germany, the “wine culture” of France, Japan and saki, Russia and vodka, the Caribbean and rum, or the “moonshine culture” of Appalachia. Wine is used in religious rituals, and toasts are used to seal business deals or to celebrate marriages and state dinners. However, our relation with alcohol is one of love/hate. We also regulate it and tax it, we pass laws about when and where it’s appropriate, we crack down severely on drunk driving, and the United States and other countries tried the failed “Noble Experiment” of Prohibition. While there are many encyclopedias on alcohol, nearly all approach it as a substance of abuse, taking a clinical, medical perspective (alcohol, alcoholism, and treatment). The SAGE Encyclopedia of Alcohol examines the history of alcohol worldwide and goes beyond the historical lens to examine alcohol as a cultural and social phenomenon, as well—both for good and for ill—from the earliest days of humankind.

Alcohol in Latin America

Download Alcohol in Latin America PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : University of Arizona Press
ISBN 13 : 0816599009
Total Pages : 317 pages
Book Rating : 4.8/5 (165 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Alcohol in Latin America by : Gretchen Pierce

Download or read book Alcohol in Latin America written by Gretchen Pierce and published by University of Arizona Press. This book was released on 2014-03-27 with total page 317 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Aguardente, chicha, pulque, vino—no matter whether it’s distilled or fermented, alcohol either brings people together or pulls them apart. Alcohol in Latin America is a sweeping examination of the deep reasons why. This book takes an in-depth look at the social and cultural history of alcohol and its connection to larger processes in Latin America. Using a painting depicting a tavern as a metaphor, the authors explore the disparate groups and individuals imbibing as an introduction to their study. In so doing, they reveal how alcohol production, consumption, and regulation have been intertwined with the history of Latin America since the pre-Columbian era. Alcohol in Latin America is the first interdisciplinary study to examine the historic role of alcohol across Latin America and over a broad time span. Six locations—the Andean region, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Guatemala, and Mexico—are seen through the disciplines of anthropology, archaeology, art history, ethnohistory, history, and literature. Organized chronologically beginning with the pre-colonial era, it features five chapters on Mesoamerica and five on South America, each focusing on various aspects of a dozen different kinds of beverages. An in-depth look at how alcohol use in Latin America can serve as a lens through which race, class, gender, and state-building, among other topics, can be better understood, Alcohol in Latin America shows the historic influence of alcohol production and consumption in the region and how it is intimately connected to the larger forces of history.

A Short History of Drunkenness

Download A Short History of Drunkenness PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Crown
ISBN 13 : 0525575383
Total Pages : 256 pages
Book Rating : 4.5/5 (255 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis A Short History of Drunkenness by : Mark Forsyth

Download or read book A Short History of Drunkenness written by Mark Forsyth and published by Crown. This book was released on 2018-05-08 with total page 256 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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 “An entertaining bar hop though the past 10,000 years.”—The New York Times Book Review 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.

Uncorking the Past

Download Uncorking the Past PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Univ of California Press
ISBN 13 : 0520944682
Total Pages : 357 pages
Book Rating : 4.5/5 (29 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Uncorking the Past by : Patrick E. McGovern

Download or read book Uncorking the Past written by Patrick E. McGovern and published by Univ of California Press. This book was released on 2009-10-30 with total page 357 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In a lively gastronomical tour around the world and through the millennia, Uncorking the Past tells the compelling story of humanity's ingenious, intoxicating search for booze. Following a tantalizing trail of archaeological, chemical, artistic, and textual clues, Patrick E. McGovern, the leading authority on ancient alcoholic beverages, brings us up to date on what we now know about the creation and history of alcohol, and the role of alcohol in society across cultures. Along the way, he integrates studies in food and sociology to explore a provocative hypothesis about the integral role that spirits have played in human evolution. We discover, for example, that the cereal staples of the modern world were probably domesticated in agrarian societies for their potential in fermenting large quantities of alcoholic beverages. These include the delectable rice wines of China and Japan, the corn beers of the Americas, and the millet and sorghum drinks of Africa. Humans also learned how to make mead from honey and wine from exotic fruits of all kinds: even from the sweet pulp of the cacao (chocolate) fruit in the New World. The perfect drink, it turns out-whether it be mind-altering, medicinal, a religious symbol, liquid courage, or artistic inspiration-has not only been a profound force in history, but may be fundamental to the human condition itself. This coffee table book will sate the curiosity of any armchair historian interested in the long history of food and wine.

Distilling the Influence of Alcohol

Download Distilling the Influence of Alcohol PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : University Press of Florida
ISBN 13 : 0813063981
Total Pages : 219 pages
Book Rating : 4.8/5 (13 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Distilling the Influence of Alcohol by : David Carey Jr.

Download or read book Distilling the Influence of Alcohol written by David Carey Jr. and published by University Press of Florida. This book was released on 2019-03-11 with total page 219 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Sugar, coffee, corn, and chocolate have long dominated the study of Central American commerce, and researchers tend to overlook one other equally significant commodity: alcohol. Often illicitly produced and consumed, aguardiente (distilled sugar cane spirits or rum) was central to Guatemalan daily life, though scholars have often neglected its fundamental role in the country's development. Throughout world history, alcohol has helped build family livelihoods, boost local economies, and forge nations. The alcohol economy also helped shape Guatemala's turbulent categories of ethnicity, race, class, and gender, as these essays demonstrate. Established and emerging Guatemalan historians investigate aguardiente's role from the colonial era to the twentieth century, drawing from archival documents, oral histories, and ethnographic sources. Topics include women in the alcohol trade, taverns as places of social unrest, and tension between Maya and State authority. By tracing Guatemala's past, people, and national development through the channel of an alcoholic beverage, Distilling the Influence of Alcohol opens new directions for Central American historical and anthropological research.