IRB Media Summary of Peter Andreas's Killer High

Annotation

Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book. Book Preview: #1 The relationship between alcohol and war has been long and intimate. While alcohol has helped soldiers prepare for combat, it has also made them unreliable and self-destructive. It has helped civilian populations endure wartime hardships, but it has also provoked charges that it undermines worker productivity.#2 The importance of alcohol for war can be seen in the history of the Greeks, who were the first to mass produce and make the drink available beyond elite circles. It was used as a currency, payment for soldiers, policemen, and the workers who built the pyramids.#3 The Romans also came to adopt the wine-drinking culture of Greece, and they perfected the art of wine-making. They used wine as a strategic resource, and leaders used it to pacify disgruntled troops.#4 The Romans spread wine through war, but they also suffered from it. The Vandals, a Germanic tribe, burned down Roman Gaul's vineyards in AD 406, and the Vikings, who invaded Britain in the ninth century, preferred ale as well as mead.