Alcohol: The World's Favorite Drug

by Griffith Edwards

Book Overview

Alcohol is everywhere. Walk down any street in the western world and before long your feet will kick against an empty beer can, or your attention will be captured by an alluring advertisement that suggests that alcohol can magically transform your life. Its use is integral to many aspects of popular culture, but it is also a substance that has at times been preached against and even prohibited.

In this book, Griffith Edwards uses both history...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0312302363
• ISBN13: 9780312302368
• Release Date: December 2003
• Publisher: St. Martins Press-3PL
• Length: 230 Pages
• Weight: 0.50 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.5" x 8.5"

Customer Reviews

Quick Overview of Not-Too-Oft Discussed Topic

This is not an in-depth sceintific study of alcohol and how Western societies deal with it. It is a brief overview of various aspects - chemistry, myth, and history - of the (currently) most popular drug. There are many other books on the subject that go into greater detail on various aspects, but this one is a very good review of the current state of alcohol in our society, and the past and current methodologies employed to deal with addiction to it. What I found most significant about the book is the final chapter, dealing w/ the consequences of "another drink". The statistics indicate e.g. that each additional drink/day/year for an adult woman increases her chances of breast cancer by 9%. I.e. a woman who has 2 drinks/day (*not* an alcoholic by current measures) increases her chances of breast cancer by 18% vs a non-drinker, all other variables controlled. The public health implications of this are very understated in the text, but staggering nonetheless. Edwards leaves you with an understanding that alcohol is a very potent drug that is heavily laden w/ sociological myth, and therefore no simple solutions to the problems it creates are easily available.