The King Of Vodka

“A operatic tour-de-force.” —Tilar J. Mazzeo, author of The Widow Clicquot “An impressive feat of research, told swiftly and enthusiastically.” —San Francisco Chronicle From Vanderbilt and Rockefeller to Bill Gates and Steve Jobs, America’s captains of industry are paragons of entrepreneurial success, and books about business history, from The First Tycoon to The Big Short, show exemplars of capitalistic cunning and tenacity…but just as American cocktail connoisseurs can mistake Absolut, Skyy, Grey Goose, or Ketel One for the quintessential clear spirit, so too has America’s vision of business history remained naïve to a truth long recognized in Eastern Europe: since the time of Tsar Nicholas, both vodka and commercial success have been synonymous in Russia with one name—Smirnoff. Linda Himelstein’s critically acclaimed biography of Russian vodka scion Pyotr Smirnov—a finalist for the James Beard Award, winner of the IACP and Saroyan Awards, and a BusinessWeek Best Business Book of 2009—is the sweeping story of entrepreneurship, empire, and epicurean triumph unlike anything the world has ever seen before.

This history of vodka scion Pyotr Smirnov and his family is the story of a humble serf who rose to create one of the most celebrated business empires the world has ever known. Pyotr Smirnov comes to life as a hero of wonderful complexity -- a man of intense ambition and uncanny business sense, a patriarch of a family that would help define Russian society, and a loyalist to a nation that would one day honor him as a treasure of the state. Set against a backdrop of political and ideological currents that would determine the course of global history -- from the fall of the tsars to the rise of communism -- this is much more than a biography of an extraordinary man. It is a story of triumph and tragedy and a work of narrative history on an epic scale. Photos.

It began as poisonous rotgut in Medieval Russia—Ivan the Terrible liked it, Peter the Great loved it—but this grain alcohol “without distinctive character, aroma, taste, or color” has become our uncontested king of spirits. Over a th

If we are what we eat, then this book reveals deep truths about the average American (not to mention more mundane truths like a surprising number of people enjoy onions, and for most people, mayonnaise is very, very difficult to spell). Milk, Eggs, Vodka is a celebration of the humble grocery list. Almost anyone will find themselves engrossed in this voyeuristic look into everyday life—less than healthy lists, lists for parties, lists with personal and often odd annotations on them...and the list of lists goes on. Besides over 150 found lists, the book also includes short essays on collecting, shopping, eating, and list making. Some of the lists will even include recipes that can be made from the ingredients on the list!

In a word: hilarious. . . . These are some of the funniest stories I have ever read and they're also some of the most unexpectedly heartfelt--Laura Zigman, author of "Animal Husbandry."

A New York Times bestseller, Absolut Book is the behind-the-scenes account of the birth and growth of this award-winning campaign and provides a definitive illustrated history of one of the most successful ad campaigns ever. It is a collector's delight with nearly five hundred ads.

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.

Meet the bros who are making vegan sexy (and making eating animals weird) Think you could never go vegan? Think again. As this smart, funny and persuasive manifesto makes clear, you're already 90% vegan anyway. That's right--you already love animals and are slowly but surely eating less meat than you used to. With the insider tips and inspiring stories in this book, you'll be ready to go whole hog (see what we did there?) and eat vegan for good. Topics include: * How eating meat hurts your health and the planet (and is pretty close to eating your beloved pet for dinner) * A simple action plan for getting started * Don't Be an A**hole to Your Server, and other secrets for eating out * Who Cares If Honey Is Vegan?: Getting over perfectionism and purity by eating as cruelty-free as you can With a loyal online following that’s growing fast, the Bros are the new face of veganism--loud, proud, and fighting for a better world, one plate at a time.