The Much-lamented Death of Madam Geneva: The Eighteenth-century Gin Craze

(, New edition)

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Description

Between 1720 and 1751, the 'gin craze' nearly overwhelmed London. Based on extensive research, Patrick Dillon's book follows the history of gin, or geneva from its introduction from Holland after the Glorious Revolution, to its role as the sustenance of the poor, a quick trip to oblivion in the squalid and diseased poverty of eighteenth-century London, and later to its resurgence in the Victorian Gin Palaces and prohibition America. This is the story of Madam Geneva's rise and fall. Gin-drinkers and sellers, politicians and distillers all add their voices to Patrick Dillon's vivid account of London's first drug craze, which takes us from the corridors of power to the cornfields of Norfolk, from the pulpits of reformers to the tenements of St Giles in the Fields.

Author Bio

Patrick Dillon is a fully qualified architect and full-time writer. On top of his many modern architectural projects, he has re-designed and restored several of London s eighteenth-century buildings, including Daunt books and, more recently, Benjamin Franklin s house.