"A tart, acute inquiry into the mania for gin that coursed through London during the early part of the eighteenth century. Warner … gives her savvy investigation a second, deeper dimension as a parable about drugs: why some take them and others worry when they do.… The stink of various self-serving moral agendas (a couple of modern examples are nimbly exploited by Warner) get a proper and gratifying airing here.… Social history at its gimlet-eyed best." —Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

"Gin took London by storm in the first half of the eighteenth century.… In this intriguing slice of social history … Warner … gives us the whole story of gin: where it came from (Holland), who drank it (a large percentage were women), how it was perceived among elites (as a threat to the nation), and how legislative efforts to curb consumption fared (badly).… In the book's final chapter, Warner paints an interesting parallel between the 'gin craze' and the recent war on drugs. This informative and accessible popular history should appeal to those with a taste for eighteenth century English history as well as those interested in histories of mind-altering substances.…." —Publishers Weekly

"What lifts the narrative out of substantive history into enthralling social narrative is Warner's crystal clear structure and her perceptive vignettes of the players — politicians, moralizers, tavern keepers, informers, police constables, magistrates, and others.… This well illustrated, well referenced book will reward readers and, importantly, teach politicians a valuable how-not-to lesson." —ForeWord Magazine

"An erudite historical statement underpinned by immense mining of primary sources, and at the same time a gripping story told with pace and wit. Read about the gin epidemic of years ago and better understand the drug outbreaks of the modern world.… This book must surely become, in its own right, a craze." —Griffith Edwards, author of Alcohol: The World's Favorite Drug

In 1720, a new drink emerged as the overwhelming drug of choice among London's working poor. Cheap, potent, and available on virtually any street corner, gin was the original urban drug. It numbed thousands to the cold, hunger, fatigue, and filth that were the lot of the underclass. Gin also started an epidemic — known as the gin craze — which swept through English society from low to high, turning neighbor against neighbor, husband against wife, citizen against society.

All the great voices of the day weighed in on gin, known to the happy many as Mother Gin or Madam Geneva, and to the unfortunate few as "the ladies' delight" or "cuckold's comfort." Samuel Johnson detested the stuff. William Hogarth spoke of the "idleness, poverty, misery, and distress" it brought about. Henry Fielding wrote of "the infant conceived in gin," along with its more general "dreadful effects," which he had "the Misfortune every Day to see, and to smell too." Daniel Defoe could go either way on it — depending on who was stuffing his pockets at the moment.

Over the thirty-year history of the gin craze, London began to change from a medieval capital to a thoroughly modern urban metropolis, with all the problems of a modern city. Parliament waged its own "war on drugs" with a series of gin acts designed to restrict sales and reform the morals of the lower classes. Ordinary men and women fought tooth and nail to save their friends and neighbors from laws that were generally regarded as harsh and unjust. The craze even gave rise to its own urban legends — spontaneous combustion, for one — as well as gangs, informers, and its own brand of street justice known as "the rough discipline of the rabble."

Jessica Warner has written a lively and accessible social history that examines the impact of Mother Gin from all perspectives — personal, political, sociological, economic, military, and sexual. She draws on hundreds of primary sources, from the anonymous to Defoe and Dr. Johnson, guiding us through squalid back rooms, streets thronged with hawkers, raging mobs — and the halls of Parliament. The result is a timely, revealing, utterly engrossing look at a city and a drug—and a drug scare — that helped shape our contemporary views of pleasure, consumption, and public morality.

Jessica Warner was born and raised in Washington, DC. A graduate of Princeton and Yale, she is a professor of history at the University of Toronto and a research scientist at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, where she has written extensively on the history of alcohol and other drugs. She may be reached through her website at www.MotherGin.com.