Public drinking in the early modern world : voices from the tavern, 1500-1800 /

This collection of tavern documents makes otherwise-inaccessible primary sources available in multivolume format and will be invaluable for students and teachers. The set includes a volume of about 450 pages that contains translations from the French; two volumes, totaling about 900 pages, with translations from the German; and a volume of about 600 pages with English-language documents. It is easy to imagine social and cultural history seminars based on this collection. The editors offer readers considerable help. General editor Brennan introduces the entire collection and his volume devoted to France. He adds introductions to sections (e.g., public sociability) and to sub-sections (e.g., gaming). There also are editorial notes.The geographic editors enjoyed considerable autonomy. Brennan relied mostly on archival sources, especially Parisian police records. The other editors depended on a more balanced mix of archival and print sources, such as German-language court records and travel reports and US newspaper articles and probate inventories. Beat Kumin and B. Ann Tlusty edited the two volumes on the Holy Roman Empire, in practice mostly southern Germany and the Swiss Confederation. Unlike the other editors, they provide an 11-page bibliography of primary sources and secondary works.The final volume, edited by David Hancock and Michelle McDonald, deals with the English-speaking American colonies and includes a few visual documents. The general index covers 27 pages. Although massive (and frighteningly expensive), Public Drinking in the Early Modern World is not comprehensive. A planned volume for England, arguably the easiest one to edit, was not completed. The finished work remains impressive. Could the publishers commission a parallel work for the 19th and 20th centuries? Summing Up: Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduates and above. D. M. Fahey Miami University