num_pages: 1704
description: Alcohol consumption goes to the very roots of nearly all human societies. Different countries and regions have become associated with different sorts of alcohol for instance the beer culture of Germany the wine culture of France Japan and saki Russia and vodka the Caribbean and rum or the moonshine culture of Appalachia. Wine is used in religious rituals and toasts are used to seal business deals or to celebrate marriages and state dinners. However our relation with alcohol is one of love/hate. We also regulate it and tax it we pass laws about when and where its appropriate we crack down severely on drunk driving and the United States and other countries tried the failed Noble Experiment of Prohibition.While there are many encyclopedias on alcohol nearly all approach it as a substance of abuse taking a clinical medical perspective (alcohol alcoholism and treatment). The SAGE Encyclopedia of Alcohol examines the history of alcohol worldwide and goes beyond the historical lens to examine alcohol as a cultural and social phenomenon as wellboth for good and for illfrom the earliest days of humankind.
language: English
title: The SAGE Encyclopedia of Alcohol: Social, Cultural, and Historical Perspectives
publisher: SAGE Publications, Inc