Alcohol Studies Research Guide

This book follows gin's introduction, its rise in popularity, the prohibition and the bootleg underground, straight on through to regulation and the big businesses that still dominate the industry today.

From beer to Coca-Cola, the six drinks that have helped shape human history. Throughout human history. certain drinks have done much more than just quench thirst. As Tom Standage relates with authority and charm, six of them have had a surprisingly pervasive influence on the course of history, becoming the defining drink during a pivotal historical period. A History of the World in 6 Glasses tells the story of humanity from the Stone Age to the 21st century through the lens of beer, wine, spirits, coffee, tea, and cola. Beer was first made in the Fertile Crescent and by 3000 B.C.E. was so important to Mesopotamia and Egypt that it was used to pay wages. In ancient Greece wine became the main export of her vast seaborne trade, helping spread Greek culture abroad. Spirits such as brandy and rum fueled the Age of Exploration, fortifying seamen on long voyages and oiling the pernicious slave trade. Although coffee originated in the Arab world, it stoked revolutionary thought in Europe during the Age of Reason, when coffeehouses became centers of intellectual exchange. And hundreds of years after the Chinese began drinking tea, it became especially popular in Britain, with far-reaching effects on British foreign policy. Finally, though carbonated drinks were invented in 18th-century Europe they became a 20th-century phenomenon, and Coca-Cola in particular is the leading symbol of globalization. For Tom Standage, each drink is a kind of technology, a catalyst for advancing culture by which he demonstrates the intricate interplay of different civilizations. You may never look at your favorite drink the same way again.

Cannabiz tells one the most important political and business stories of our generation: the transformation of a counterculture movement into a growth industry with staggering potential. Charting the rise of medical marijuana in California and 14 other states, award-winning journalist John Geluardi vividly recounts the movement's early activism, its legal challenges and victories, and its emergence as a commercial and political force. Tracing the history of marijuana in the United States, Cannabiz also reports on the industry's key players, political allies and opponents, internal strife, and audacious aspirations--including a 2010 ballot initiative to legalize the adult use of marijuana in California. Along the way, Geluardi describes local efforts to regulate dispensaries, ranging from workable ordinances in some cities to bureaucratic paralysis in Los Angeles, where dispensaries came to outnumber McDonalds franchises. He also reports on efforts in Humboldt County, the heartland of marijuana cultivation, to keep pot illegal--and prices high. Adroitly profiling this unique industry, Cannabiz tells a distinctively American story--one whose colorful characters and fascinating details evoke Prohibition and the Gold Rush.

Upon finishing the first draft of this biography of Stuart Shorter, an ex-junkie ex-homeless friend, author Alexander Masters was told by Stuart himself that it should be more interesting, "like what Tom Clancy writes." In the end, he assembled a heartbreaking and deeply personal account of an extraordinary life without giving in to sentimentality. Unfortunately, the award-winning finished product was never seen by Stuart, who stepped in front of a train before it was completed. Masters takes an unconventional look at an unconventional life, starting from Stuart’s death and leading to the traumatic events that drove him to drug use and homelessness.

New Yorker cartoonist Jack Ziegler compiled 122 hilarious cartoons about drinking. Jokes range from the silly to sidesplitting literary jokes ("Meanwhile at the Cafe de la Mort: Ernest Hemingway is ridiculing Oscar Wilde's wine spritzer while Truman Capote takes notes").

Award-winning scientist Stephen Braun inspects the relationship between coffee and booze and the people that love them. As funny as it is informative, this collection of stories, trivia, and history chronicles the effect that caffeine and alcohol have on the human body without getting bogged down in scientific detail.

One of the most important relationships that human beings have with plants is changing our consciousness -- consider the plants that give us coffee, tea, chocolate, and nicotine. Sacred Bliss challenges traditional attitudes about cannabis by tracing its essential role in the spiritual and curative traditions in Asia, the Middle East, Africa, Europe, and the Americas from prehistory to the present day. In highlighting the continued use of cannabis around the globe, Sacred Bliss offers compelling evidence of cannabis as an entheogen used for thousands of years to evoke peak-experiences, or moments of expanded perception or spiritual awareness. Today, the growing utilization of medical cannabis to alleviate the pain and symptoms of physical illness raises the possibility of using cannabis to treat the mind along with the body. By engaging sacred and secular texts from around the world, Sacred Bliss demonstrates that throughout religious history, cannabis has offered access to increased imagination and creativity, heightened perspective and insight, and deeper levels of thought."

Drawing parallels between the current drug war and the “Gin Craze” in 18th Century Britain, Warner outlines the history of the popular spirit. This engrossing account of “the original urban drug” follows the drink from its introduction to the eight failed reforms that Parliament attempted to institute. The light, conversational tone that Warner employs keeps the story moving, and would be a great read for anyone with an interest in the relationship between politics, drugs, and society.

The author of the recovery mainstay 12 Stupid Things That Mess Up Recovery offers a fresh list of "smart" things to do to attain and sustain emotional sobriety. Whether it's called "dry drunk" or "white knuckle sobriety," it's that stage in recovery when we realize that "putting the plug in the jug" isn't enough. The next step is taking responsibility for the emotional immaturity that fuels our addictive personality and has a tremendous impact on ourselves and others.

To grow in recovery, we must grow up emotionally. This means getting honest with ourselves and facing up to the self-defeating thoughts and actions that put our sobriety at risk.[...] In simple, down-to-earth language, Allen Berger explores the twelve most commonly confronted beliefs and attitudes that can sabotage recovery. He then provides tools for working through these problems in daily life. This useful guide offers fresh perspectives on how the process of change begins with basic self-awareness and a commitment to working a daily program.