Download or read book Bourbon Empire written by Reid Mitenbuler and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2015-05-12 with total page 322 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: How bourbon came to be, and why it’s experiencing such a revival today Unraveling the many myths and misconceptions surrounding America’s most iconic spirit, Bourbon Empire traces a history that spans frontier rebellion, Gilded Age corruption, and the magic of Madison Avenue. Whiskey has profoundly influenced America’s political, economic, and cultural destiny, just as those same factors have inspired the evolution and unique flavor of the whiskey itself. Taking readers behind the curtain of an enchanting—and sometimes exasperating—industry, the work of writer Reid Mitenbuler crackles with attitude and commentary about taste, choice, and history. Few products better embody the United States, or American business, than bourbon. A tale of innovation, success, downfall, and resurrection, Bourbon Empire is an exploration of the spirit in all its unique forms, creating an indelible portrait of both bourbon and the people who make it.
Download or read book Bourbon Empire written by Reid Mitenbuler and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2016-05-10 with total page 322 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “Pulls aside the curtain of puffery to show . . . the business of liquor to be every bit as fascinating as the fictions in which the distillers love to swaddle themselves.” —Wayne Curtis, The Wall Street Journal Walk into a well-stocked liquor store and you’ll see countless whiskey brands, each boasting an inspiring story of independence and heritage. And yet, more than 95% of the nation’s whiskey comes from a small handful of giant companies with links to organized crime, political controversy, and a colorful history that is far different than what appears on modern labels. In Bourbon Empire, Reid Mitenbuler shows how bourbon, America’s most iconic style of whiskey, and the industry surrounding it, really came to be—a saga of shrewd capitalism as well as dedicated craftsmanship. Mitenbuler traces the big names—Jim Beam, Maker’s Mark, Evan Williams, and more—back to their origins, exploring bourbon’s founding myths and great successes against the backdrop of America’s economic history. Illusion is separated from reality in a tale reaching back to the Whiskey Rebellion of 1794, when the ideologies of Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton battled to define the soul of American business. That debate continues today, punctuated along the way by Prohibition-era bootleggers, the liquor-fueled origins of NASCAR, intense consolidation driven by savvy lobbying, and a Madison Avenue plot to release five thousand parrots—trained to screech the name of a popular brand—into the nation’s bars. Today, the whiskey business takes a new turn as a nascent craft distilling movement offers the potential to revolutionize the industry once again. But, as Mitenbuler shows, many take advantage of this excitement while employing questionable business practices, either by masquerading whiskey made elsewhere as their own or by shortcutting the proven production standards that made many historic brands great to begin with. A tale of innovation, success, downfall, and resurrection, Bourbon Empire is an exploration of the spirit in all its unique forms, creating an indelible portrait of both American whiskey and the people who make it.
Download or read book Edge of Empire written by Fabrício Prado and published by University of California Press. This book was released on 2015-10-13 with total page 260 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the first decades of the 1800s, after almost three centuries of Iberian rule, former Spanish territories fragmented into more than a dozen new polities. Edge of Empire analyzes the emergence of Montevideo as a hot spot of Atlantic trade and regional center of power, often opposing Buenos Aires. By focusing on commercial and social networks in the Rio de la Plata region, the book examines how Montevideo merchant elites used transimperial connections to expand their influence and how their trade offered crucial support to Montevideo’s autonomist projects. These transimperial networks offered different political, social, and economic options to local societies and shaped the politics that emerged in the region, including the formation of Uruguay. Connecting South America to the broader Atlantic World, this book provides an excellent case study for examining the significance of cross-border interactions in shaping independence processes and political identities.
Download or read book The Bourbon King written by Bob Batchelor and published by Diversion Books. This book was released on 2019-09-03 with total page 580 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The rise and fall of the man who cracked Prohibition to become one of the world’s richest criminal masterminds—and helped inspire The Great Gatsby. Love, murder, political intrigue, mountains of cash, and rivers of bourbon…The tale of George Remus is a grand spectacle and a lens into the dark heart of Prohibition. Yes, Congress gave teeth to Prohibition in October, 1919, but the law didn’t stop George Remus from amassing a fortune that would be worth billions of dollars today. As one Jazz Age journalist put it, “Remus was to bootlegging what Rockefeller was to oil.” Author Bob Batchelor breathes life into the largest bootlegging operation in America—greater than that of Al Capone—and a man considered the best criminal defense lawyer of his era. Remus bought an empire of distilleries on Kentucky’s “Bourbon Trail” and used his other profession, as a pharmacist, to profit off legal loopholes. He spent millions bribing officials in the Harding Administration, and he created a roaring lifestyle that epitomized the Jazz Age over which he ruled. That is, before he came crashing down in one of the most sensational murder cases in American history: a cheating wife, the G-man who seduced her and put Remus in jail, and the plunder of a Bourbon Empire. Remus murdered his wife in cold-blood and then shocked a nation winning his freedom based on a condition he invented—temporary maniacal insanity. “The fantastic story of George Remus makes the rest of the “Roaring Twenties” look like the “Boring Twenties” in comparison.” ―David Pietrusza, author of 1920: The Year of the Six Presidents
Download or read book Wild Minds written by Reid Mitenbuler and published by Atlantic Monthly Press. This book was released on 2020-12-01 with total page 445 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “A thoroughly captivating behind-the-scenes history of classic American animation . . . A must-read for all fans of the medium.” —Matt Groening In 1911, famed cartoonist Winsor McCay debuted one of the first animated cartoons, based on his sophisticated newspaper strip “Little Nemo in Slumberland,” itself inspired by Freud’s recent research on dreams. McCay is largely forgotten today, but he unleashed an art form, and the creative energy of artists from Otto Messmer and Max Fleischer to Walt Disney and Warner Bros.’ Chuck Jones. Their origin stories, rivalries, and sheer genius, as Reid Mitenbuler skillfully relates, were as colorful and subversive as their creations—from Felix the Cat to Bugs Bunny to feature films such as Fantasia—which became an integral part and reflection of American culture over the next five decades. Pre-television, animated cartoons were aimed squarely at adults; comic preludes to movies, they were often “little hand grenades of social and political satire.” Early Betty Boop cartoons included nudity; Popeye stories contained sly references to the injustices of unchecked capitalism. During WWII, animation also played a significant role in propaganda. The Golden Age of animation ended with the advent of television, when cartoons were sanitized to appeal to children and help advertisers sell sugary breakfast cereals. Wild Minds is an ode to our colorful past and to the creative energy that later inspired The Simpsons, South Park, and BoJack Horseman. “A quintessentially American story of daring ambition, personal reinvention and the eternal tug-of-war of between art and business . . . a gem for anyone wanting to understand animation’s origin story.” —NPR
Download or read book But Always Fine Bourbon written by Sally Van Winkle Campbell and published by . This book was released on 1999-10-01 with total page 220 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Whiskey Women written by Fred Minnick and published by Potomac Books, Inc.. This book was released on 2013-10-01 with total page 237 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Shortly after graduating from University of Glasgow in 1934, Elizabeth “Bessie” Williamson began working as a temporary secretary at the Laphroaig Distillery on the Scottish island Islay. Williamson quickly found herself joining the boys in the tasting room, studying the distillation process, and winning them over with her knowledge of Scottish whisky. After the owner of Laphroaig passed away, Williamson took over the prestigious company and became the American spokesperson for the entire Scotch whisky industry. Impressing clients and showing her passion as the Scotch Whisky Association’s trade ambassador, she soon gained fame within the industry, becoming known as the greatest female distiller. Whiskey Women tells the tales of women who have created this industry, from Mesopotamia’s first beer brewers and distillers to America’s rough-and-tough bootleggers during Prohibition. Women have long distilled, marketed, and owned significant shares in spirits companies. Williamson’s story is one of many among the influential women who changed the Scotch whisky industry as well as influenced the American bourbon whiskey and Irish whiskey markets. Until now their stories have remained untold.
Download or read book Kentucky Bourbon Whiskey written by Michael R. Veach and published by University Press of Kentucky. This book was released on 2013-03-22 with total page 160 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: On May 4, 1964, Congress designated bourbon as a distinctive product of the United States, and it remains the only spirit produced in this country to enjoy such protection. Its history stretches back almost to the founding of the nation and includes many colorful characters, both well known and obscure, from the hatchet-wielding prohibitionist Carry Nation to George Garvin Brown, who in 1872 created Old Forester, the first bourbon to be sold only by the bottle. Although obscured by myth, the history of bourbon reflects the history of our nation. Historian Michael R. Veach reveals the true story of bourbon in Kentucky Bourbon Whiskey. Starting with the Whiskey Rebellion of the 1790s, he traces the history of this unique beverage through the Industrial Revolution, the Civil War, Prohibition, the Great Depression, and up to the present. Veach explores aspects of bourbon that have been ignored by others, including the technology behind its production, the effects of the Pure Food and Drug Act, and how Prohibition contributed to the Great Depression. The myths surrounding bourbon are legion, but Veach separates fact from legend. While the true origin of the spirit may never be known for certain, he proposes a compelling new theory. With the explosion of super-premium bourbons and craft distilleries and the establishment of the Kentucky Bourbon Trail, interest in bourbon has never been higher. Veach shines a light on its pivotal place in our national heritage, presenting the most complete and wide-ranging history of bourbon available.
Download or read book Bourbon and Bullets written by John C. Tramazzo and published by U of Nebraska Press. This book was released on 2021-07 with total page 298 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: John C. Tramazzo highlights the relationship between bourbon and military service to show the rich and dramatic connection in American history.
Download or read book Bourbon written by Fred Minnick and published by Voyageur Press (MN). This book was released on 2016-10 with total page 247 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Fred Minnick traces bourbon's entire history, beginning with the New World settlers and following righ up through today's booming resurgence.
Download or read book Nationalizing Empires written by Stefan Berger and published by Central European University Press. This book was released on 2015-06-30 with total page 702 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The essays in Nationalizing Empires challenge the dichotomy between empire and nation state that for decades has dominated historiography. The authors center their attention on nation-building in the imperial core and maintain that the nineteenth century, rather than the age of nation-states, was the age of empires and nationalism. They identify a number of instances where nation building projects in the imperial metropolis aimed at the preservation and extension of empires rather than at their dissolution or the transformation of entire empires into nation states. Such observations have until recently largely escaped theoretical reflection.
Download or read book Apogee of Empire written by Stanley J. Stein and published by JHU Press. This book was released on 2004-12-01 with total page 479 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Once Europe's supreme maritime power, Spain by the mid-eighteenth century was facing fierce competition from England and France. England, in particular, had successfully mustered the financial resources necessary to confront its Atlantic rivals by mobilizing both aristocracy and merchant bourgeoisie in support of its imperial ambitions. Spain, meanwhile, remained overly dependent on the profits of its New World silver mines to finance both metropolitan and colonial imperatives, and England's naval superiority constantly threatened the vital flow of specie. When Charles III ascended the Spanish throne in 1759, then, after a quarter-century as ruler of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, Spain and its colonial empire were seriously imperiled. Two hundred years of Hapsburg rule, followed by a half-century of ineffectual Bourbon "reforms," had done little to modernize Spain's increasingly antiquated political, social, economic, and intellectual institutions. Charles III, recognizing the pressing need to renovate these institutions, set his Italian staff—notably the Marqués de Esquilache, who became Secretary of the Consejo de Hacienda (the Exchequer)—to this formidable task. In Apogee of Empire, Stanley J. Stein and Barbara H. Stein trace the attempt, initially under Esquilache's direction, to reform the Spanish establishment and, later, to modify and modernize the relationship between the metropole and its colonies. Within Spain, Charles and his architects of reform had to be mindful of determining what adjustments could be made that would help Spain confront its enemies without also radically altering the Hapsburg inheritance. As described in impressive detail by the authors, the bitter, seven-year conflict that ensued between reformers and traditionalists ended in a coup in 1766 that forced Charles to send Esquilache back to Italy. After this setback at home, Charles still hoped to effect constructive change in Spain's imperial system, primarily through the incremental implementation of a policy of comercio libre (free-trade). These reforms, made half-heartedly at best, failed as well, and by 1789 Spain would find itself ill prepared for the coming decades of upheaval in Europe and America. An in-depth study of incremental response by an old imperial order to challenges at home and abroad, Apogee of Empire is also a sweeping account of the personalities, places, and policies that helped to shape the modern Atlantic world.
Download or read book King of the Bootleggers written by William A. Cook and published by McFarland. This book was released on 2014-11-21 with total page 227 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: As a pharmacist turned lawyer turned master prohibition era bootlegger, George Remus is now remembered as one of the most notorious figures of the American prohibition. Even though he was a lifelong teetotaler, Remus built one of the nation's largest illegal liquor empires with little regard to disguises or secrecy. This biography tells the complete story of Remus' private life and public persona, focusing especially on the turbulent rise and fall of his bootlegging kingdom. It begins with an overview of Remus' early life and careers in pharmacy and law, and covers his bootlegging career, including his overwhelmingly successful early business ventures, his 1922 bootlegging conviction, his murder of wife Imogene (after she had a well-publicized affair with prohibition agent Franklin Dodge), and Remus' subsequent trial for her murder.
Download or read book Early Bourbon Spanish America written by and published by BRILL. This book was released on 2013-05-23 with total page 254 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The years between the accession of the house of Bourbon to the Spanish throne in 1700 and the coronation of Carlos III in 1759 have often been bundled up, and dismissed, together with the later years of Habsburg rule. Growing out of the first Anglophone academic workshop to focus exclusively on Early Bourbon Spanish America, this collective volume gives prominence to the first half of the eighteenth century as a distinct historical period. Discussing from different methodological and geographical perspectives the ways in which the Bourbon succession, international competition over access to Spanish American resources, and war affected the Indies, the contributors examine some of the key changes experienced in Spanish America at the local, provincial and imperial level.
Download or read book American Whiskey Bourbon Rye written by Clay Risen and published by Sterling Epicure. This book was released on 2015 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Offers brief histories, ratings, and tasting notes for more than three hundred types of American whiskey, bourbon, and rye, including Knob Creek, Eagle Rare, Jim Beam, and Whistlepig.
Download or read book Pappyland written by Wright Thompson and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2020-11-10 with total page 257 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The New York Times bestseller! “A warm and loving reflection that, like good bourbon, will stand the test of time.” —Eric Asimov, The New York Times The story of how Julian Van Winkle III, the caretaker of the most coveted cult Kentucky Bourbon whiskey in the world, fought to protect his family's heritage and preserve the taste of his forebears, in a world where authenticity, like his product, is in very short supply. Following his father’s death decades ago, Julian Van Winkle stepped in to try to save the bourbon business his grandfather had founded on the mission statement: “We make fine bourbon—at a profit if we can, at a loss if we must, but always fine bourbon.” With the company in its wilderness years, Julian committed to safeguarding his namesake’s legacy or going down with the ship. Then he discovered that hundreds of barrels from the family distillery had survived their sale to a multinational conglomerate. The whiskey that Julian produced after recovering those barrels would immediately be hailed as the greatest in the world—and soon would be the hardest to find. Once they had been used up, a fresh challenge began: preserving the taste of Pappy in a new age. Wright Thompson was invited to ride along as Julian undertook the task. From the Van Winkle family, Wright learned not only about great bourbon but about complicated legacies and the rewards of honoring your people and your craft—lessons that he couldn’t help but apply to his own work and life. May we all be lucky enough to find some of ourselves, as Wright Thompson did, in Pappyland.
Download or read book Visible Empire written by Daniela Bleichmar and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2012-10-08 with total page 299 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Between 1777 and 1816, botanical expeditions crisscrossed the vast Spanish empire in an ambitious project to survey the flora of much of the Americas, the Caribbean, and the Philippines. While these voyages produced written texts and compiled collections of specimens, they dedicated an overwhelming proportion of their resources and energy to the creation of visual materials. European and American naturalists and artists collaborated to manufacture a staggering total of more than 12,000 botanical illustrations. Yet these images have remained largely overlooked—until now. In this lavishly illustrated volume, Daniela Bleichmar gives this archive its due, finding in these botanical images a window into the worlds of Enlightenment science, visual culture, and empire. Through innovative interdisciplinary scholarship that bridges the histories of science, visual culture, and the Hispanic world, Bleichmar uses these images to trace two related histories: the little-known history of scientific expeditions in the Hispanic Enlightenment and the history of visual evidence in both science and administration in the early modern Spanish empire. As Bleichmar shows, in the Spanish empire visual epistemology operated not only in scientific contexts but also as part of an imperial apparatus that had a long-established tradition of deploying visual evidence for administrative purposes.
