Spirits Of America: A Social History Of Alcohol

by Eric Burns

Thousands of years ago, before Christ or Buddha or Muhammad...before the Roman Empire rose or the Colossus of Rhodes fell, Eric Burns writes, "people in Asia Minor were drinking beer." So begins an account as entertaining as it is extensive, of alcohol's journey through worldand, more important, Americanhistory. In The Spirits of America, Burns relates that drinking was "the first national pastime," and shows how it shaped American politics and culture from the earliest colonial days. He details the transformation of alcohol from virtue to vice and back again, how it was thought of as both scourge and medicine. He tells us how "the great American thirst" developed over the centuries, and how reform movements and laws (some of which, Burn s says, were "comic masterpieces of the legislator's art") sprang up to combat it. Burns brings back to life such vivid characters as Carrie Nation and other crusaders against drink. He informs us that, in the final analysis, Prohibition, the culmination of the reformers' quest, had as much to do with politics and economics and geography as it did with spirituous beverage. Filled with the famous, the infamous, and the undeservedly anonymous, The Spirits of America is a masterpiece of the historian's art. It will stand as a classic chroniclewitty, perceptive, and comprehensiveof how this country was created by and continues to be shaped by its everchanging relationship to the cocktail shaker and the keg.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Booze, American History, Food History

344 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 1, 2003

About the author

Eric Burns is an American media critic and journalist. He began his career as a correspondent for NBC News where he appeared regularly on NBC Nightly News and on the Today show.

Burns has written five critically-acclaimed books and continues to work in television. He has worked as a commentator for Entertainment Tonight, host of Arts & Entertainment Revue on A&E, and is the former host of Fox News Channel's Fox News Watch, as well as a media analyst for the network.

Burns received an Emmy Award for media criticism and was named by the Washington Journalism Review as one of the best writers in the history of broadcast journalism.

Reviews

[Erica]

Burns crafts a long yarn about, most centrally, Prohibition in the United States--its proponents and its law-breakers, mostly. While his storytelling is lively, the gender politics here are utterly horrifying (he's a former Fox News guy, unsurprisingly), and despite its title, this book isn't social history. Burns isn't a historian, and clearly knows very little about the kind of camp one claims when you purport to be a social historian. A bit sad that Temple UP's imprimature helps this book look academic, when it's nothing of the sort--Burns explains as much in the first pages. The Introduction and Chapter One are interesting and fairly well-balanced, but the succeding chapters turn wild and bizarre.

[Adam Fisher · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good, entertaining book. Well written and humorous at times. However, two-thirds of the book is about Prohibition. I was looking for a more total history of drinking and spirits. But if you're interested in Prohibition, it is a thorough history.

[Robert Bob · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a Kansas Methodist from a " Dry" county, I digested this history well.

[Jer Wilcoxen · Rating 2 out of 5]

On the hokie side of history. Style wasn't for me, told in a folksy way.

[Cheryl McEnaney · Rating 5 out of 5]

Full of fascinating history and data, well-written and witty, a thoroughly interesting and enjoyable book.

[Center For Study Indonesian Food Anthropology · Rating 4 out of 5]

Halo, Kerabat !

Buku ini memberikan ulasan yang mudah dibaca karena seperti membaca intisari.

Sebuah kisah tentang perjalanan alkohol (Zat kimia yang menyebabkan efek psikoaktif/zat yang mengubah kesadaran dan persepsi mental, yang ditemukan dalam minuman beralkohol). Hal ini menjadi sejarah alkohol dunia dan Amerika, Minuman beralkohol menggambarkan pengaruhnya terhadap : politik, budaya, dan gerakan reformasi (Perubahan sosial yang signifikan melalui tindakan atau peraturan). Secara historis adanya transformasi alkohol dari kebajikan menjadi kejahatan dan demikian sebaliknya secara terus menerus. Alkohol yang pada awalnya berfungsi sebagai penghangat suhu tubuh berubah menjadi kutukan karena dicampurkan dengan obat-obatan terlarang.Carry Nation (anggota gerakan radikal pengekangan diri yang melawan alkohol dan mengadvokasi pelarangan penyebaran alkohol) yang memperjuangkan anti-minuman keras, hingga hadirlah berbagai regulasi. Bir, anggur, dan wiski tidak hanya menghidupkan pekerja yang lelah, melainkan pelampiasan ketidakberdayaan untuk mencari keadilan.

Kisah panjang tentang alkohol di Amerika Serikat kisah panjang dan kompleks yang telah mempengaruhi budaya dan masyarakat Amerika selama berabad-abad. Sejak masa kolonial, minuman beralkohol seperti bir, anggur, dan cider menjadi bagian penting dari kehidupan sehari-hari penduduk koloni. Pada awal abad ke-20, gerakan anti-alkohol semakin kuat, yang mengarah pada era Prohibisi pada tahun 1920 hingga 1933. Prohibisi melarang produksi, distribusi, dan penjualan minuman beralkohol di seluruh negara. Namun, kebijakan ini tidak berhasil mencapai tujuan dan justru menyebabkan masalah sosial seperti perdagangan gelap dan korupsi.Setelah Repeal Prohibisi pada tahun 1933, pemerintah federal dan negara bagian mulai menerapkan peraturan ketat mengenai produksi, distribusi, dan konsumsi alkohol. Namun, konsumsi alkohol tetap menjadi bagian penting dari budaya Amerika dan menjadi unsur dalam banyak acara sosial dan bisnis. Meskipun ada peraturan ketat, isu kesehatan terkait alkohol tetap menjadi perhatian serius. Masalah penyalahgunaan alkohol, kecelakaan terkait alkohol, dan dampak kesehatan jangka panjang terus menjadi perhatian bagi masyarakat dan pemerintah. Seiring berjalannya waktu, sikap terhadap alkohol telah berubah dan berkembang. Beberapa negara bagian mengizinkan penjualan alkohol dengan cara yang lebih terbuka, sementara negara bagian lainnya tetap memberlakukan pembatasan ketat. Perbedaan budaya, nilai-nilai, dan undang-undang di masing-masing wilayah dan negara bagian terus mempengaruhi cara orang Amerika memandang dan berinteraksi dengan alkohol.

Hatur nuhun.

[Paul Heller · Rating 3 out of 5]

A well-written history of alcohol consumption in the United States, BUT...I feel like another whole section should have been written after Prohibition. The author treated the historical story line of alcohol in the U.S. as culminating with the repeal of the 18th Amendment in 1933, which a few short episodes mentioned after this date. There is a tremendous amount that could have been written about the decades following, especially the rapid growth of the microbrew and homebrew markets from the 1980s onwards.

[Bob Sheblotznik · Rating 5 out of 5]

A thoroughly enjoyable history of the prohibitionist movement in America. There were so many interesting stories that I had never heard before. Lots of Carry A Nation. Izzy Einstien. Little things about our history as a country and as a world also came up. I feel much more wise now than I was before I read it. This book pleased me to no end.

[Erica · Rating 3 out of 5]

quick and entertaining read. the author is a journalist who doesn't really use the greatest sources, but the book is not entirely useless. might not use it alone to gain historical perspective, but coupled with a few other 'history of alcohol in america' books, it is wonderful.

[Antislice · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found it to be an entertaining read, although I last read it a while ago.