A History of Drink and the English, 1500-2000

"This interesting and ambitious book explores the English reputation for drinking over the past 500 years in order to answer basic questions about levels of alcohol consumption and the types of alcohol the English consume. More importantly, historian Jennings (Univ. of Bradford, UK) explores changing patterns of English drinking over the past five centuries by drawing on a variety of sources ranging from government statistics, medical reports, and ecclesiastical treatises to popular literature. Jennings also creatively incorporates alcohol studies research to produce a theoretically informed book that sheds new light on both the aberrant and normative functions of alcohol in English society. He skillfully examines how the social, symbolic, and ritual contexts of early English drinking practices shaped later attitudes toward alcohol. The role of alcohol at weddings, christenings, and funerals, for example, reveals deeper insights into the tensions that exist between continuity and change in English society. The emphasis on class and the gendered structures of pubs, alehouses, and other drinking spaces is also provocative and refreshing."

--F. H. Smith, College of William and Mary

CHOICE Highly recommended. All levels/libraries.

"[…] Jennings is a fitting individual, therefore, to be entrusted with this much-needed survey of what recent scholarly work on the history of drink in England currently adds up to, and his mastery of the field and its associated literature is evident here. In an age where scholars increasingly shy away from the ambitious survey, Jennings tackles this challenge with aplomb, producing an account that is rich in detail and discussion of the available evidence, marshalling the same into a clear and readable narrative. The account is sensitive to the complexity and variety of historical developments while nonetheless identifying key trends and broader conclusions with surety. The book rests on a number of key assertions: that alcohol occupies a place of central importance in human societies; that it has always been met with a degree of ambivalence; that its history reflects broader economic, social, cultural and political developments (one of the great strengths of this research subject); and that it needs to be understood both within a global context and through an appreciation of regional and local variation. […] Drink is unlikely to become less central to historical studies any time soon, especially with this extremely useful survey (complete with extensive bibliographies at the end of each chapter) now available to students, teachers and researchers in the field."

-- Mark Hailwood, University of Bristol, UK, The English Historical Review

"Overall, this is a valuable addition to drink history literature providing a much-needed introduction. For the alcohol scholar, A History of Drink and the English, provides a synthesis of a broad range of interdisciplinary works on alcohol studies, from Brian Harrison's seminal Drink and the Victorians to Carpenter's anthropological perspectives in Constructive Drinking, evaluated and commented upon by one of the most knowledgeable and measured scholars in the area."

-- Pam Lock, University of Bristol

"A History of Drink and the English, 1500-2000 provides the reader with an excellent overview of the topic... Jennings should be commended for producing such an engaging narrative and his decision to organise the book thematically rather than chronologically is particularly effective. Statistics are used in a judicious manner, bolstering the arguments, but never overwhelming the text. For an introduction to the subject of drink and the English there is currently no better study and it is hoped that it will inspire readers to look deeper into the many aspects of alcohol covered by the book."

-- Tim Holt, Brewery History

"Paul Jennings begins his no-nonsense A History of Drink and the English, 1500–2000 with a legitimate question: Are the English an especially drunken lot? […] Future historians will, if they are clever, turn to Jennings’s book for an extraordinary distillation of secondary works, and an outstanding summary of the continuity and change in the history of drink and the English between the years 1500 and 2000."

-- Charles C. Ludington, University College Cork, Ireland and North Carolina State University, USA, Journal of British Studies, Volume 56, Issue 3.