Two of the books I enjoyed most when researching "Drink: a social history
of America" (Carroll and Graf, New York, 1999) were W.J.Rorabaugh, "The
Alcoholic Republic" (OUP, paperback, New York, 1981, probably out of print
but I bet they have plenty of old copies lying around) and J.C.Burnham,
"Bad Habits" (NYUP, paperback, New York, 1993), who both approached the
role of drink in American history from an unusual perspective. I have tried
to do the same in my book, which offers a transatlantic view. There does
not exist, so far as I am aware, any satisfactory general history of
alcohol. Having followed a history of drink in Britain ("Drink: a social
history," Pimlico, paperback, London, 1998) with one of America, I have
thought of trying, but  it is such a large subject requiring such a
combination of disciplines. A task for one of today's students, perhaps.