Man Walks into a Pub: A Sociable History of Beer

From the long, tumultuous history of beer -- including a good stretch as essential daily nutrition -- the dizzying acquisitions of big business -- including the rise and fall of Stella -- the glimpse of our minds on ads, and governments' and 'concerned' groups' attempts to fit beer in our lives, I was hooked on Brown's latest edition.

His writing strikes that often difficult balance between entertaining and engaging, and informative. While I've obviously embraced this wondrously varied beer culture since moving to Britain a few years ago, I would like to think Man Walks Into A Pub has something for just about everyone (even if they need to skip ahead a few sections every now and then).

A fun read for anyone with a passion for beer and the places where we drink beer. I'd love to read a similar writeup of American drinking habits, but this peak into the English love affair with beer was entertaining even for this outsider.

A conversational history of beer by my favourite beer writer.