Gin Glorious Gin

Gin Glorious Gin is a vibrant cultural history of London seen through the prism of its most iconic drink. Leading the reader through the underbelly of the Georgian city via the Gin Craze, detouring through the Empire (with a G&T in hand), to the emergence of cocktail bars in the West End, the story is brought right up to date with the resurgence of class in a glass - the Ginnaissance. As gin has crossed paths with Londoners of all classes and professions over the past three hundred years it has become shorthand for metropolitan glamour and alcoholic squalor in equal measure. In and out of both legality and popularity, gin is a drink that has seen it all. Gin Glorious Gin is quirky, informative, full of famous faces - from Dickens to Churchill, Hogarth to Dr Johnson - and introduces many previously unknown Londoners, hidden from history, who have shaped the city and its signature drink.

Gin Glorious Gin is a vibrant cultural history of London seen through the prism of its most iconic drink. Leading the reader through the underbelly of the Georgian city via the Gin Craze, detouring through the Empire (with a G&T in hand), to the emergence of cocktail bars in the West End, the story is brought right up to date with the resurgence of class in a glass - the Ginnaissance. As gin has crossed paths with Londoners of all classes and professions over the past three hundred years it has become shorthand for metropolitan glamour and alcoholic squalor in equal measure. In and out of both legality and popularity, gin is a drink that has seen it all. Gin Glorious Gin is quirky, informative, full of famous faces - from Dickens to Churchill, Hogarth to Dr Johnson - and introduces many previously unknown Londoners, hidden from history, who have shaped the city and its signature drink.

In and out of both legality and popularity - gin is the only drink to be simultaneously shorthand for metropolitan glamour and alcoholic squalor. It crosses paths with all professions and cuts through class - writers and artists, politicians and scientists, royalty - gin is a great leveller. 'Gin Glorious Gin' is funny, quirky, interesting, informative and full of famous names - Dickens to Churchill, Hogarth to Hemingway - and unknown voices who impacted our wonderful capital city.

Mother’s Milk, Mother’s Ruin, and Ladies’ Delight. Dutch Courage and Cuckold’s Comfort. These evocative nicknames for gin hint that it has a far livelier history than the simple and classic martini would lead you to believe. In this book, Lesley Jacobs Solmonson journeys into gin’s past, revealing that this spirit has played the role of both hero and villain throughout history. Taking us back to gin’s origins as a medicine derived from the aromatic juniper berry, Solmonson describes how the Dutch recognized the berry’s alcoholic possibilities and distilled it into the whiskey-like genever. She then follows the drink to Britain, where cheap imitations laced with turpentine and other caustic fillers made it the drink of choice for poor eighteenth-century Londoners. Eventually replaced by the sweetened Old Tom style and later by London Dry gin, its popularity spread along with the British Empire. As people today once again embrace classic cocktails like the gimlet and the negroni, gin has reclaimed its place in the world of mixology. Featuring many enticing recipes, Gin is the perfect gift for cocktail aficionados and anyone who wants to know whether it should be shaken or stirred.

A harrowing chronicle of England's early-eighteenth century 'gin craze.--The Atlantic Monthly

In need of some gin-spiration? Look no further!

Perpetually overwhelmed? Welcome to the new book from Katie Kirby, creator of the bestselling Hurrah for Gin Do you overthink everything? Do you struggle to say no to people? Are you paying membership for a gym you never go to? Do group chat politics make you want to throw your phone under a bus? Are you overjoyed when people cancel plans so that you can sit at home in your pyjama bottoms eating Coco pops for dinner? If so then this book is for you! We spend our childhoods wanting to a be adults and, when we get there, find ourselves lost under a pile of life admin, half completed to do lists and anti-ageing face creams that promise to make you look as good as Natalie Imbruglia. In her new book, Hurrah for Gin pinpoints with painful precision just how overwhelming life can be when you're all grown up. From the worry spiral that keeps you up at 3AM, to maintaining a professional aura when you can't stand other people - this is for everyone struggling to stay afloat. Honest, relatable, funny and containing no useful advice whatsoever, take comfort in the knowledge that it's not just you, we're all as f*cked as each other.

2016 was officially the “year of gin” in the UK, with sales topping £1 billion! The brilliantly botanical spirit is much more than tonic’s sidekick, it’s sophisticatedly sippable, and adds depth and flavour to any drink.