This book examines our relationship with alcohol and examines how drink has evolved in its functions and uses from the late Middle Ages to the present day in the West. This book discusses a range of issues, including domestic versus recreational use, the history of alcoholism, and the relationship between alcohol and violence, religion, sexuality, and medicine. It looks at how certain forms of alcohol speak about class, gender, and place. Drawing on examples from Europe, North America, and Australia, this book provides a comprehensive history of the role of alcohol over the past five centuries.