The Book of Gin
A Spirited World History from Alchemists' Stills and Colonial Outposts to Gin Palaces, Bathtub Gin, and Artisanal Cocktails
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The Book of Gin
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Narrated by:
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Richard Shelton
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By:
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Richard Barnett
About this listen
Gin has been a drink of kings infused with crushed pearls and rose petals, and a drink of the poor flavored with turpentine and sulfuric acid. Born in alchemists' stills and monastery kitchens, its earliest incarnations were juniper flavored medicines used to prevent plague, ease the pains of childbirth, even to treat a lack of courage.
In The Book of Gin, Richard Barnett traces the life of this beguiling spirit, once believed to cause a new kind of drunkenness. In the 18th century, gin-craze debauchery (and class conflict) inspired Hogarth's satirical masterpieces "Gin Lane" and "Beer Street". In the 19th century, gin was drunk by Napoleonic War naval heroes, at lavish gin palaces, and by homesick colonials, who mixed it with their bitter anti-malarial tonics. In the early 20th century, the illicit cocktail culture of prohibition made gin often dangerous bathtub gin fashionable again. And today, with the growth of smallbatch distilling, gin has once-again made a comeback.
Wide-ranging, impeccably researched, and packed with illuminating stories, The Book of Gin is lively and fascinating, an indispensable history of a complex and notorious drink.
©2011 Richard Barnett. Recorded by arrangement with Grove Atlantic, Inc. (P)2014 Audible Inc.Listeners also enjoyed...
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-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 3,959
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.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Fun and Informative
- By Stoker on 09-09-11
By: Tom Standage
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Drink
- A Cultural History of Alcohol
- By: Iain Gately
- Narrated by: Matthew Lloyd Davies
- Length: 21 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 108
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 84
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 84
Drink investigates the history of this Jekyll and Hyde of fluids, tracing mankind's love/hate relationship with alcohol from ancient Egypt to present day. Drink further documents the contribution of alcohol to the birth and growth of the United States, taking in the War of Independence, Pennsylvania Whiskey revolt, slave trade, and failed experiment of national Prohibition. Finally, it provides a history of the world's most famous drinks - and drinkers. Packed with trivia and colorful characters, Drink amounts to an intoxicating history of the world.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Amazing!
- By Ben on 02-23-22
By: Iain Gately
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Bourbon Empire
- The Past and Future of America's Whiskey
- By: Reid Mitenbuler
- Narrated by: Brian O'Neill
- Length: 10 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 543
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 491
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 490
Unraveling the many myths and misconceptions surrounding America's most iconic spirit, Bourbon Empire traces a history that spans frontier rebellion, Gilded Age corruption, and the magic of Madison Avenue. Whiskey has profoundly influenced America's political, economic, and cultural destiny, just as those same factors have inspired the evolution and unique flavor of the whiskey itself.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Great whiskey history great American history
- By Larry G. on 06-16-15
By: Reid Mitenbuler
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The United States of Beer
- A Freewheeling History of the All-American Drink
- By: Dane Huckelbridge
- Narrated by: Corey Snow
- Length: 6 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 49
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 42
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 42
Huckelbridge shows how beer has evolved along with the country - from a local and regional product (once upon a time, every American city had its own brewery and iconic beer brand) to the rise of global megabrands, like Budweiser and Miller, that are synonymous with US capitalism. We learn of George Washington's failed attempt to brew beer at Mount Vernon with molasses instead of barley and of the 19th-century "beer barons", like Captain Frederick Pabst, Adolphus Busch, and Joseph Schlitz.
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5 out of 5 stars
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History Humanized
- By Dave on 06-25-16
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Whiskey Women
- The Untold Story of How Women Saved Bourbon, Scotch, and Irish Whiskey
- By: Fred Minnick
- Narrated by: James Killavey
- Length: 7 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 87
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Performance3.5 out of 5 stars 80
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 78
Without women, whiskey may not exist. In Whiskey Women, Wall Street Journal-best-selling author Fred Minnick tells the tales of women who have created this industry, from Mesopotamia's first beer brewers and distillers to America's rough-and-tough bootleggers during Prohibition. Women have long distilled, marketed, and owned spirits companies. These strong women built many iconic brands, including Bushmills, Laphroaig, and Maker's Mark.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Women should be proud of this.
- By Tracy on 01-29-16
By: Fred Minnick
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Drinking in America
- Our Secret History
- By: Susan Cheever
- Narrated by: Barbara Benjamin Creel
- Length: 9 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 67
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 60
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Story4 out of 5 stars 61
In Drinking in America, best-selling author Susan Cheever chronicles our national love affair with liquor, taking a long, thoughtful look at the way alcohol has changed our nation's history. This is the often-overlooked story of how alcohol has shaped American events and the American character from the 17th to the 20th century.
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1 out of 5 stars
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Revisionist history at its worst
- By Dawson Roy Lewis III on 10-26-15
By: Susan Cheever
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Flowers in the Blood
- The Story of Opium
- By: Jeff Goldberg, Dean Latimer, William Burroughs - introduction
- Narrated by: Stephen McLaughlin
- Length: 12 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 72
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 59
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Story4 out of 5 stars 58
Opium has played a dramatic and varied role in human history, inspiring religious veneration, scientific exploration, the bitterest rancor, and the most fanciful ecstasy. Now, authors Jeff Goldberg and Dean Latimer have provided a complete, insightful history of opium. Flowers in the Blood lifts the veil of mystery that has surrounded opium down through the ages.
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4 out of 5 stars
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OPIATE DECRIMINALIZATION
- By chetyarbrough.blog on 06-18-14
By: Jeff Goldberg, and others
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Tobacco
- A Cultural History of How an Exotic Plant Seduced Civilization
- By: Iain Gately
- Narrated by: Christopher Grove
- Length: 12 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 267
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 232
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 230
Tobacco was first cultivated and enjoyed by the indigenous inhabitants of the Americas, who used it for medicinal, religious, and social purposes long before the arrival of Columbus. But when Europeans began to colonize the American continents, it became something else entirely - a cultural touchstone of pleasure and success and a coveted commodity that would transform the world economy forever.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Interesting until a pro-smoking ending
- By Kelli on 12-25-20
By: Iain Gately
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Vodka Politics
- Alcohol, Autocracy, and the Secret History of the Russian State
- By: Mark Lawrence Schrad
- Narrated by: Noah Michael Levine
- Length: 18 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 87
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 73
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 74
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.
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2 out of 5 stars
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Look Natasha! Moose and Squirrel are drunk!
- By The Crunge on 09-07-16
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A Short History of Drunkenness
- How, Why, Where, and When Humankind Has Gotten Merry from the Stone Age to the Present
- By: Mark Forsyth
- Narrated by: Simon Vance
- Length: 5 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 155
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 138
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 138
Almost every culture on Earth has drink, and where there's drink there's drunkenness. But in every age and in every place drunkenness is a little bit different. It can be religious, it can be sexual, it can be the duty of kings or the relief of peasants. It can be an offering to the ancestors, or a way of marking the end of a day's work. It can send you to sleep, or send you into battle. Making stops all over the world, A Short History of Drunkenness traces humankind's love affair with booze from our primate ancestors through to the 20th century.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Amazing
- By SEB24 on 10-30-24
By: Mark Forsyth
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Imbibe! Updated and Revised Edition
- From Absinthe Cocktail to Whiskey Smash, a Salute in Stories and Drinks to "Professor" Jerry Thomas, Pioneer of the American Bar
- By: David Wondrich
- Narrated by: David Colacci
- Length: 9 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 163
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 139
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 136
The first edition, published in 2007, won a James Beard Award. Now updated with newly discovered recipes and historical information, this updated edition includes the origins of the first American drink, the mint julep (which Wondrich places before the American Revolution) and those of the cocktail itself. It also provides more detail about 19th-century spirits, many new and colorful anecdotes and details about Thomas' life, and a number of particularly notable, delicious, and influential cocktails not covered in the original edition.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Interesting history, but needs recipies
- By E. Atkinson on 03-02-20
By: David Wondrich
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Girly Drinks
- A World History of Women and Alcohol
- By: Mallory O'Meara
- Narrated by: Mallory O'Meara
- Length: 11 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 79
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 71
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 71
From the earliest days of civilization, alcohol has been at the center of social rituals and cultures worldwide. But when exactly did drinking become a gendered act? And why have bars long been considered "places for men" when, without women, they might not even exist? With whip-smart insight and boundless curiosity, Girly Drinks unveils an entire untold history of the female distillers, drinkers and brewers who have played a vital role in the creation and consumption of alcohol, from ancient Sumerian beer goddess Ninkasi to iconic 1920s bartender Ada Coleman.
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5 out of 5 stars
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A must-read book!!
- By Courtney C. on 11-03-21
By: Mallory O'Meara
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Milk of Paradise
- A History of Opium
- By: Lucy Inglis
- Narrated by: Colleen Prendergast
- Length: 13 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 52
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 43
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 43
Poppy tears, opium, heroin, fentanyl: humankind has been in thrall to the ‘Milk of Paradise’ for millennia. The latex of papaver somniferum is a bringer of sleep, of pleasurable lethargy, of relief from pain - and hugely addictive. A commodity without rival, it is renewable, easy to extract, transport and refine, and subject to an insatiable global demand. No other substance in the world is as simple to produce or as profitable. It is the basis of a gargantuan industry built upon a shady underworld, but ultimately it is a farm-gate material that lives many lives ....
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5 out of 5 stars
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Historical gold mine....
- By Alednam A Uonopk on 01-29-20
By: Lucy Inglis
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Kentucky Bourbon Whiskey
- An American Heritage
- By: Michael R. Veach
- Narrated by: Travis
- Length: 2 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 134
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 114
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Story4 out of 5 stars 115
Its history stretches back almost to the founding of the nation and includes many colorful characters, both well known and obscure, from the hatchet-wielding prohibitionist Carry Nation to George Garvin Brown, who in 1872 created Old Forester, the first bourbon to be sold only by the bottle.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Nice review
- By Joseph C Wood on 04-28-23
By: Michael R. Veach
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The Widow Clicquot
- The Story of a Champagne Empire and the Woman Who Ruled It
- By: Tilar Mazzeo
- Narrated by: Susan Ericksen
- Length: 9 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 470
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 394
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Story4 out of 5 stars 393
In The Widow Clicquot, Tilar J. Mazzeo brings to life for the first time the fascinating woman behind the iconic yellow label: Barbe-Nicole Clicquot Ponsardin. A young witness to the dramatic events of the French Revolution and a new widow during the chaotic years of the Napoleonic Wars, Barbe-Nicole defied convention by assuming---after her husband's death---the reins of the fledgling wine business they had nurtured.
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1 out of 5 stars
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A painful listen
- By Anne on 04-29-09
By: Tilar Mazzeo
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Castles, Customs, and Kings
- True Tales by English Historical Fiction Authors
- By: Debra Brown, M.M. Bennetts
- Narrated by: Ruth Golding
- Length: 25 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 70
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 62
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Story4 out of 5 stars 60
A compilation of essays from the English Historical Fiction Authors blog, this book provides a wealth of historical information from Roman Britain to early 20th-century England. Over 50 different authors share hundreds of real life stories and tantalizing tidbits discovered while doing research for their own historical novels.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Historical Tidbits
- By Troy on 08-03-15
By: Debra Brown, and others
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Last Call
- The Rise and Fall of Prohibition
- By: Daniel Okrent
- Narrated by: Richard Poe
- Length: 17 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 484
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 422
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 424
A brilliant, authoritative, and fascinating history of America’s most puzzling era, the years 1920 to 1933, when the U.S. Constitution was amended to restrict one of America’s favorite pastimes: drinking alcoholic beverages. Okrent reveals how Prohibition marked a confluence of diverse forces, including the growing political power of the women’s suffrage movement and the fear of small-town, native-stock Protestants that they were losing control of their country to the immigrants of the large cities.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Very Thorough Historical Review
- By Pierre on 11-12-12
By: Daniel Okrent
What listeners say about The Book of Gin
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Sara
- 05-19-21
Well-written, good scope. Ending felt a tad rushed
Engagingly written and performed, covering the long history of gin. Given the amount of time given to most of the history, the ending did feel slightly clipped short. Still, very good.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Jeremy Komito
- 03-06-23
Outstanding, interesting history!
Unbelievable interesting history of the ups and downs and Renaissance of gin. Narrated wonderfully on top of it all!
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Lucas Samples
- 10-18-20
Great history on my favorite drink
If you have the taste for gin and knowledge about gin, then this book is a good chaser.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall2 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Teet
- 07-19-17
Gin sloe is not covered in the book.
It is more historic book. Good to get some knowledge about gin development. Quite UK and US based
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