Drunk: How We Sipped, Danced, and Stumbled Our Way to Civilization

nice hardback book

A comprehensive historical and scientific account of how and why Homo sapiens use intoxicating substances since antiquity.

This is a (sort of) scholarly study of the benefits and drawbacks of drinking alcohol, and deserves 5 stars for shining a light where light needs to be shined. But it is also just a terrific read. It's one of those rare books that is not only serious and important, but also fun to read.

Excellent piece of work documenting the role of booze within building human vivilization summarizing extensuve research ranging from neurosciences and social science to implications to policy making and maintaining social order. A thrilling and comprehensive account of alcohol acting as a social glue is presented, as well as caveats relating to its overuse/misuse.

Sometimes hard to put down, hard to convince sceptics, so the only answer is you have to read it for yourself.