Alcohol: The World's Favorite Drug
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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 and chemistry to explore the whole issue of alcohol. Is it medicine, a delightful potion, poison, or a mysterious combination of all three? What part has alcohol played in various cultures and religions? Why do different people behave differently when drunk? What cures for habitual inebriation were popular in the past? Why is alcoholism considered a disease? What is "safe drinking"? Is alcohol good for the heart? Do current treatments work? Does Alcoholics Anonymous have the answer? Armed with the best solid information science, history, and sociology have to offer, Edwards asks how, in the light of this knowledge, society might in the future better handle this pleasure-giving, somewhat dangerous drug. Can society get its pleasure out of alcohol without the inevitable suffering that accompanies misuse? If so, what steps should we take to protect ourselves and others? Already considered in England to be a classic in the field, Alcohol will prove to be fascinating reading for the drinker and nondrinker alike.Format:Paperback
Language:English
ISBN:0312302363
ISBN13:9780312302368
Release Date:December 2003
Publisher:St. Martin's Griffin
Length:230 Pages
Weight:0.50 lbs.
Dimensions:0.8" x 5.5" x 8.5"
Customer Reviews
1 rating
Quick Overview of Not-Too-Oft Discussed Topic
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 18 years ago
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.
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