I think that's probably the case, that broad-based (non-monographic)
alcohol histories aren't readily available in paperback. Clearly,
publishers are not convinced yet that there are sales to justify it.

For lack of alternatives (because I'd really rather use someone's else's
work as a foil for lectures) I've been using my own book, A Short History
of Wine, as a text in my Social History of Alcohol Course at Carleton
University (Ottawa).

But this year I learned, when my bookstore tried to order 120 copies, that
Penguin (UK), who first published it in 2000 and brought out a paperback
in 2001, have sold out and decided to let it go Out of Print. They have a
benchmark minimum sales target (1,000 sales a year), and I didn't quite
make it last year.

There is a US edition (HarperCollins), and my students can buy it through
Amazon.com--the way publishers divide the world prevents their buying it
retail in Canada.

I'm currently completing a history of alcohol that will be published by
North Carolina UP.

Rod Phillips

> It's interesting that nearly all the suggestions have concerned drugs
> other
> than alcohol (or drugs including alcohol), rarely alcohol or temperance
> alone.  Is this because the books in this final category aren't available
> in paperback?  Or are too specialized for undergraduates?
>