Name: The Politics of Drink in England, from Gladstone to Lloyd George
SKU: 1-5275-7818-6
Availability: InStock
Rating: 5.00 (5 reviews)

The Politics of Drink in England, from Gladstone to Lloyd George

By: David M. Fahey

From £32.99

From the 1870s to the 1920s, a political struggle raged over public houses. Temperance reformers clashed with the powerful drink trade over compensation for pub closures, creating a stalemate broken only by a controversial deal and radical WWI experiments like State Purchase.

This book is about alcoholic drink, political parties, and pressure groups. From the 1870s into the 1920s, excessive drinking by urban workers frightened the major…

This book is about alcoholic drink, political parties, and pressure groups. From the 1870s into the 1920s, excessive drinking by urban workers frightened the major political parties. They all wanted to reduce the number of public houses. It was not easy to find a way that would satisfy temperance reformers, many of them prohibitionists, and the licensed drink trade. Brewers demanded compensation when pubs were closed, but temperance reformers were vehemently opposed to this.

The book highlights a prolonged struggle of vested interests and ideologies in this regard, showing that a Royal Commission in 1899 helped break the stalemate. In a controversial deal, brewers got compensation, but they had to pay for closing some of their own pubs. Later, during the First World War, the government experimented with an alternative to closing public houses, disinterested or non-commercial management, and considered State Purchase of the entire drink trade.

David M. Fahey is Professor of History Emeritus at Miami University (Ohio). He previously served as President of the Alcohol and Temperance History Group and received a lifetime achievement award from its successor, the Alcohol and Drugs History Society. Specializing on temperance and drink in England and America, he published many articles and books, such as “Temperance and the Liberal Party–Lord Peel’s Report, 1899” in Journal of British Studies (1971), “Brewers, Publicans, and Working Class Drinkers: Pressure Group Politics in Late Victorian and Edwardian England” in Histoire sociale (1980), Temperance and Racism: John Bull, Johnny Reb, and the Good Templars (1996), and Temperance Societies in Late Victorian and Edwardian England (2020). He has also contributed to the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography and the Biographical Dictionary of Modern British Radicals, and co-edited two alcoholic drink historical encyclopedias

Hardback

ISBN: 1-5275-7818-6
ISBN13: 978-1-5275-7818-0
Date of Publication: 2022-01-31

Paperback

ISBN: 1-0364-2424-3
ISBN13: 978-1-0364-2424-4
Date of Publication: 2024-12-13

Ebook

ISBN: 1-5275-7883-6
ISBN13: 978-1-5275-7883-8
Date of Publication: 2024-12-13

Categories: Social Sciences, Political Science and International Relations, Politics, Food Science and Technology

Pages: 361

Subject Codes:

BIC: JPL, JPWD, WBXD
THEMA: JPL, JPWG, WBXD

Pages: 361

"Such a deep treatment of this political history is not available elsewhere, though, and in providing it, Fahey has done a great service. Future scholars of alcohol consumption will find this foundational research crucial, and the book's footnotes feature a career's worth of primary source leads."
- Danielle Kinsey Carleton University, Canada.
"David M. Fahey's The Politics of Drink in England, From Gladstone to Lloyd George will be an important reference text for researchers interested in the influence of special-interest lobbies and the regulation of alcohol consumption in British party politics;"
- Danielle Kinsey Carleton University, Canada
"Dr Fahey (...) is a reliable and informative guide to the different elements of the drink and temperance debate during this period of its greatest prominence as a political question."
- Dr Iain Sharpe Liberal Democrat Councillor, in Journal of Liberal History 124
"In The Politics of Drink in England, from Gladstone to Lloyd George, David M. Fahey explores a volatile 50 years in the political history of alcohol in England. Stretching from the 1870s to the 1920s, Fahey’s work explores various debates between political parties and the outside pressure groups that thrived during the period. As its title suggests, The Politics of Drink firmly centers on Parliament, party leaders and these pressure groups, all of which contributed to contemporary discourses about drink. Representing a valuable contribution to the current historiography, Fahey bills it as a sequel to Brian Harrison’s Drink and the Victorians. Some might also see it as a useful companion piece to Dingle’s work on late-nineteenth century temperance and politics. More broadly, Fahey’s work also enhances recent research on drink and politics—including the work of Henry Yeomans, James Nicholls, and John Greenaway—by focusing on the persistent struggle that faced prohibitionists in their attempt to influence legislation. […] one should […] stress the sheer amount of material consulted for this book, which is impressive, as well as the great enthusiasm for and knowledge of the topic, which suffuses it."
- Craig Stafford University of Liverpool, UK, in The Social History of Alcohol and Drugs 37: 2
"The footnotes and bibliography make this a crucial volume for scholars looking at the history of drink in England."
- R. J. Bates Berea College

Meet The Author

David M. Fahey

Three Victorian Historians

Hallam, Buckle, Gardiner

By: David M. Fahey

£64.99

Diverse and contrasting historians like Hallam, Buckle, and Gardiner open windows through which we can see Victorian England as it changed. This book reinterprets the works of these great historians whom the Victorians read, offering its own insight into the era.

Forgotten Temperance Reformers

By: David M. Fahey

From £32.99

This book is a collection of biographies of forgotten leaders in the temperance movement. Recovering the lives and works of these reformers enhances our understanding of the movement and is for anyone interested in the lost history of social movements.

Temperance Societies in Late Victorian and Edwardian England

By: David M. Fahey

From £29.99

By studying the temperance societies of Victorian and Edwardian England, this book opens a window onto middle-class and working-class society. These organizations of men, women, and children provided the backbone for temperance as both a social movement and a political lobby.

The Politics of Drink in England, from Gladstone to Lloyd George

Hardback

Paperback

Ebook

Subject Codes:

Recommended

Meet The Author