Published by the British Library and written by Ruth Ball this book shows the surprising and, often subversive, ways in which drinking has changed the world, and the ways in which society has struggled to control the places where people drink. The original postal service was developed between networks of inns and the first insurance companies were created in coffee houses. The suffragette movement found that tea shops provided the space for women across different social classes to meet. The book is illustrated throughout and unveils the ways in which drinks, whether alcoholic or caffeinated, have found their way to the centre of our social and political lives.