Pete Brown takes us on a well-lubricated pub-crawl through the story of beer, from the first sacred sip of ancient Egyptian bouza to the last pint of lager on a Friday night. It is a tale of yeast-obsessed monks and teetotal prime ministers; of how pale ale fuelled an empire and weak bitter won a world war; of exploding breweries, a bear in a yellow nylon jacket and a Canadian bloke who changed the drinking habits of a nation. It is also the story of the rise of the pub from humble origins through an epic, 1000-year struggle to survive misunderstanding, bad government and misguided commerce.