Liquid Pleasures: A Social History of Drinks in Modern Britain

Liquid Pleasures looks at what Britons have drunk from the late seventeenth century onwards. John Burnett treats drink as more than a way to quench thirst, seeing it as a necessity, a comfort, an indulgence and a social activity. He discusses individual drinks such as the morning tea and coffee, the evening beer and the nightcap.

The book shows how drinking habits varied with taste, age, gender, region and class. It also shows how different ages viewed the same drink as either a poison or a medicine. Burnett follows the rise of hot beverages in the late seventeenth century, when tea, coffee and sugar were tied to the empire, and then the cold drinks revolution of the late twentieth century.

The book examines the forces behind these large changes in what people eat and drink. It suits readers of social history, food history and the history of Britain.

Edition note: first edition from Routledge in 1999, 254 pages, ISBN-13 9780415131810.