Book

Brown, Pete, 1968-

Shakespeare's pub : a barstool history of London as seen through the windows of its oldest pub - the George Inn / Pete Brown.

First U.S. edition.

New York : St. Martin's Press, 2013.

352 pages : illustrations, map ; 22 cm

"A history of Britain told through the story of one very special pub, from "The Beer Drinker's Bill Bryson" (Times Literary Supplement) Welcome to the George Inn near London Bridge; a cosy, wood-panelled, galleried coaching house a few minutes' walk from the Thames. Grab yourself a pint, listen to the chatter of the locals and lean back, resting your head against the wall. And then consider this: who else has rested their head against that wall, over the last six hundred years? Chaucer and his fellow pilgrims almost certainly drank in the George on their way out of London to Canterbury. It's fair to say that Shakespeare popped in from the nearby Globe for a pint, and we know that Dickens certainly did. Mail carriers changed their horses here, before heading to all four corners of Britain--while sailors drank here before visiting all four corners of the world. The pub, as Pete Brown points out, is the 'primordial cell of British life' and in the George he has found the perfect example. All life is here, from murderers, highwaymen, and ladies of the night to gossiping peddlers and hard-working clerks. So sit back with Shakespeare's Pub and watch as buildings rise and fall over the centuries, and 'the beer drinker's Bill Bryson' (UK's Times Literary Supplement) takes us on an entertaining tour through six centuries of history, through the stories of everyone that ever drank in one pub"-- Provided by publisher.

George Inn (Enfield, London, England) -- History.

Bars (Drinking establishments) -- England -- London -- History.

London (England) -- Buildings, structures, etc. -- History.

Enfield (London, England) -- History.

Great Britain -- History.

Travel writing.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 343-347).

Prologue : Concerning scandal, murder, smuggling, highwaymen, coffee, & C. -- In which we make the perilous and eventful journey to the George Inn, Southwark. From my house -- Concerning dates, names, Mutya, Heidi & C. -- Being some remarks on London's first bridge, and how this bridge gives our story its very shape -- On inns, taverns, alehouses, pubs and boozers. But mainly inns, and the distinctive nature thereof -- The poet's tale, or, how English literature was born in a Southwark inn -- In which we meet the inhabitants of sinful Southwark, and the patrons of its divers inns, taverns and alehouses -- Concerning bulls, bears, actors and other beasts, and their various 'entertainments', including the sad tale of a monkey on a horse -- Further unsavoury activities in inns and alehouses, and how these places were burn'd by almighty God's fury (if you believe in that sort of thing) -- Our inn enjoys a golden age of romance, highwaymen, complicated timetables and sore posteriors -- Concerning drink, hops and politics, and how the George Inn brings these elements together -- In which the road of steel replaces the roads of the Romans, and the inns of the Borough suffer a terrible fate -- Concerning a mother and daughter, two brothers, and the condition of nostalgia -- In which the George Inn is sav'd for the nation, and a princess and a bishop have a lock-in -- Epilogue : a drink at the George Inn to-day -- Timeline and dramatis personae.

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9781250033871

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