The King of Vodka

Author: Linda Himelstein
Publisher: Harper Collins
ISBN: 0060855916
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 436

Book Description
Born in a Russian village in 1831, Pyotr Smirnov relied on vodka to turn a life of scarcity and anonymity into one of immense wealth and international recognition. Starting from the back rooms and side streets of nineteeth-century Moscow, Smirnov exploited brilliant grassroots marketing strategies to popularize his products and ensconce his brand in the thirsts and imaginations of drinkers around the world. His vodka would be gulped in the taverns of Russia and Europe, be praised with accolades at world fairs, and become a staple on the tables of tsars. But his improbable ascent would be halted by the chaos of the Bolshevik Revolution, and only a bizarre set of coincidences—including an incredible prison escape by one of Smirnov’s sons in 1919—would prevent Smirnov’s legacy from fading into obscurity. Set against a backdrop of political and ideological currents that would determine the course of global events, The King of Vodka is much more than a biography of a humble serf who rose to create one of the most celebrated business empires the world has ever known. It is a work of sweeping narrative history on an epic scale.

King of Vodka

Author: Linda Himelstein
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781437975642
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 384

Book Description
This history of vodka scion Pyotr Smirnov and his family is the story of a humble serf who rose to create one of the most celebrated business empires the world has ever known. Pyotr Smirnov comes to life as a hero of wonderful complexity -- a man of intense ambition and uncanny business sense, a patriarch of a family that would help define Russian society, and a loyalist to a nation that would one day honor him as a treasure of the state. Set against a backdrop of political and ideological currents that would determine the course of global history -- from the fall of the tsars to the rise of communism -- this is much more than a biography of an extraordinary man. It is a story of triumph and tragedy and a work of narrative history on an epic scale. Photos.

Vodka

Author: Victorino Matus
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN: 1493012630
Category : Cooking
Languages : en
Pages : 277

Book Description
It began as poisonous rotgut in Medieval Russia—Ivan the Terrible liked it, Peter the Great loved it—but this grain alcohol “without distinctive character, aroma, taste, or color” has become our uncontested king of spirits. Over a th

Vodka Politics

Author: Mark Lawrence Schrad
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0199389470
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 514

Book Description
Russia is famous for its vodka, and its culture of extreme intoxication. But just as vodka is central to the lives of many Russians, it is also central to understanding Russian history and politics. In Vodka Politics, Mark Lawrence Schrad argues that debilitating societal alcoholism is not hard-wired into Russians' genetic code, but rather their autocratic political system, which has long wielded vodka as a tool of statecraft. Through a series of historical investigations stretching from Ivan the Terrible through Vladimir Putin, Vodka Politics presents the secret history of the Russian state itself-a history that is drenched in liquor. Scrutinizing (rather than dismissing) the role of alcohol in Russian politics yields a more nuanced understanding of Russian history itself: from palace intrigues under the tsars to the drunken antics of Soviet and post-Soviet leadership, vodka is there in abundance. Beyond vivid anecdotes, Schrad scours original documents and archival evidence to answer provocative historical questions. How have Russia's rulers used alcohol to solidify their autocratic rule? What role did alcohol play in tsarist coups? Was Nicholas II's ill-fated prohibition a catalyst for the Bolshevik Revolution? Could the Soviet Union have become a world power without liquor? How did vodka politics contribute to the collapse of both communism and public health in the 1990s? How can the Kremlin overcome vodka's hurdles to produce greater social well-being, prosperity, and democracy into the future? Viewing Russian history through the bottom of the vodka bottle helps us to understand why the "liquor question" remains important to Russian high politics even today-almost a century after the issue had been put to bed in most every other modern state. Indeed, recognizing and confronting vodka's devastating political legacies may be the greatest political challenge for this generation of Russia's leadership, as well as the next.

But Mama Always Put Vodka in Her Sangria!

Author: Julia Reed
Publisher: Macmillan + ORM
ISBN: 1250019052
Category : Cooking
Languages : en
Pages : 216

Book Description
In her new book, But Mama Always Put Vodka in Her Sangria!, Julia Reed, a master of the art of eating, drinking, and making merry, takes the reader on culinary adventures in places as far flung as Kabul, Afghanistan and as close to home as her native Mississippi Delta and Florida's Gulf Coast. Along the way, Reed discovers the perfect Pimm's Royale at the Paris Ritz, devours delicious chuletons in Madrid, and picks up tips from accomplished hostesses ranging from Pat Buckley to Pearl Bailey and, of course, her own mother. Reed writes about the bounty—and the burden—of a Southern garden in high summer, tosses salads in the English countryside, and shares C.Z. Guest's recipe for an especially zingy bullshot. She understands the necessity of a potent holiday punch and serves it up by the silver bowl full, but she is not immune to the slightly less refined charms of a blender full of frozen peach daiquiris or a garbage can full of Yucca Flats. And then there are the parties: shindigs ranging from sultry summer suppers and raucous dinners at home to a Plymouth-like Thanksgiving feast and an upscale St. Patrick's Day celebration. This delightful collection of essays by Julia Reed, a master storyteller with an inimitable voice and a limitless capacity for fun, will show you how to entertain guests with style, have a good time yourself and always have that perfect pitcher of sangria ready at a moment's notice.

Vodka Is Vegan

Author: Matt Letten
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 1101993375
Category : Health & Fitness
Languages : en
Pages : 256

Book Description
Meet the bros who are making vegan sexy (and making eating animals weird) Think you could never go vegan? Think again. As this smart, funny and persuasive manifesto makes clear, you're already 90% vegan anyway. That's right--you already love animals and are slowly but surely eating less meat than you used to. With the insider tips and inspiring stories in this book, you'll be ready to go whole hog (see what we did there?) and eat vegan for good. Topics include: * How eating meat hurts your health and the planet (and is pretty close to eating your beloved pet for dinner) * A simple action plan for getting started * Don't Be an A**hole to Your Server, and other secrets for eating out * Who Cares If Honey Is Vegan?: Getting over perfectionism and purity by eating as cruelty-free as you can With a loyal online following that’s growing fast, the Bros are the new face of veganism--loud, proud, and fighting for a better world, one plate at a time.

The Savoy Cocktail Book

Author: Harry Craddock
Publisher: Courier Dover Publications
ISBN: 0486835189
Category : Cooking
Languages : en
Pages : 292

Book Description
The ultimate bartender's book, this richly illustrated hardcover compilation of 750 recipes comprises non-alcoholic drinks as well as sours, toddies, flips, slings, fizzes, coolers, rickeys, juleps, punches, and other refreshments.

Are You There, Vodka? It's Me, Chelsea

Author: Chelsea Handler
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1416596364
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 274

Book Description
In a word: hilarious. . . . These are some of the funniest stories I have ever read and they're also some of the most unexpectedly heartfelt--Laura Zigman, author of "Animal Husbandry."

Vodka

Author: Patricia Herlihy
Publisher: Reaktion Books
ISBN: 1861899548
Category : Cooking
Languages : en
Pages : 167

Book Description
Vodka is the most versatile of spirits. While people in Eastern Europe and the Baltic often drink it neat, swallowing it in one gulp, others use it in cocktails and mixed drinks—bloody marys, screwdrivers, white russians, and Jell-O shots—or mix it with tonic water or ginger beer to create a refreshing drink. Vodka manufacturers even infuse it with flavors ranging from lemon and strawberry to chocolate, bubble gum, and bacon. Created by distilling fermented grains, potatoes, beets, or other vegetables, this colorless, tasteless, and odorless liquor has been enjoyed by both the rich and the poor throughout its existence, but it has also endured many obstacles along its way to global popularity. In this book, Patricia Herlihy takes us for a ride through vodka’s history, from its mysterious origins in a Slavic country in the fourteenth century to its current transatlantic reign over Europe and North America. She reveals how it continued to flourish despite hurdles like American Prohibition and being banned in Russia on the eve of World War I. On its way to global domination, vodka became ingrained in Eastern European culture, especially in Russia, where standards in vodka production were first set. Illustrated with photographs, paintings, and graphic art, Vodka will catch the eye of any reader intrigued by how “potato juice” became an international industry.

Everyday Drinking

Author: Kingsley Amis
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA
ISBN: 1608193160
Category : Cooking
Languages : en
Pages : 211

Book Description
Here is the beloved, bestselling compendium of Kingsley Amis's wisdom on the cherished subject of drinking. Along with a series of well-tested recipes (including a cocktail called the Lucky Jim) the book includes Amis's musings on The Hangover, The Boozing Man's Diet, The Mean Sod's Guide, and (presumably as a matter of speculation) How Not to Get Drunk-all leavened with fun quizzes on the making and drinking of alcohol all over the world. Mixing practical know-how and hilarious opinionation, this is a delightful cocktail of wry humor and distilled knowledge, served by one of our great gimlet wits.