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Author Finan, Christopher M., 1953- author.

Title Drunks : an American history / Christopher M. Finan.

Publication Info. Boston : Beacon Press, [2017]

Copies

Location Call No. OPAC Message Status
 Axe 3rd Floor Stacks  362.292 F49d 2017    ---  Available
1 copy being processed for Axe Acquisitions Order.
Description 326 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm
text txt rdacontent
unmediated n rdamedia
volume nc rdacarrier
Summary "A social history of alcoholism in the United States, from the seventeenth century to the present day Today, millions of Americans are struggling with alcoholism, but millions are also in long-term recovery. Alcoholics Anonymous and a growing number of recovery organizations are providing support for alcoholics who will face the danger of relapse for the rest of their lives. We have finally come to understand alcoholism as a treatable illness, rather than a moral failure. Today's advocates can draw inspiration from the victories of sober drunks throughout American history. Christopher Finan recounts the nation's history with alcohol and its search for sobriety, which began among Native Americans in the colonial period, when liquor was used to cheat them of their property. He introduces us to the first of a colorful cast of characters, a remarkable Iroquois leader named Handsome Lake, who dedicated his life to helping his people renounce hard liquor. And we meet Carrie Nation, the wife of an alcoholic who destroyed bars with an ax in her anger over what alcohol had done to her family, as well as the idealistic and energetic Washingtonians, reformed drunks who led the first national movement to save men like themselves. Finan also tells the dramatic story of Bill Wilson and Dr. Bob Smith, the two drunks who helped each other stay sober and then created AA, which survived its tumultuous early years and has made it possible for millions of men and women to quit drinking. This is narrative history at its best: entertaining and authoritative, an important portrait of one of America's great liberation movements"-- Provided by publisher.
Bibliography Includes bibliographical references (pages 292-311) and index.
Contents Mountain of bones -- Out of the gutter -- Discovery of the disease -- Search for higher power -- False dawn -- Two drunks -- The birth of Alcoholics Anonymous -- Rise of the sober drunk -- Boom and bust -- Waves of sobriety.
Subject Alcoholism -- United States -- History.
Alcoholism -- Treatment -- United States -- History.
Alcoholics -- United States -- History.
Alcoholics -- Rehabilitation -- United States -- History.
Alcoholism -- history. (DNLM)D000437Q000266
Alcoholism -- rehabilitation. (DNLM)D000437Q000534
History, Modern 1601-. (DNLM)D049711
United States. (DNLM)D014481
Alcoholics. (OCoLC)fst00804414
Alcoholics -- Rehabilitation. (OCoLC)fst00804437
Alcoholism. (OCoLC)fst00804461
Alcoholism -- Treatment. (OCoLC)fst00804565
United States. (OCoLC)fst01204155
Genre/Form History. (OCoLC)fst01411628
ISBN 9780807001790 (hardback)
0807001791 (hardback)
9780807001806
Standard No. 40027280714

 
    
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