The Book

Man Walks into a Pub is a book about beer and pubs. It's not a guide to finely crafted ales or the best traditional pubs that serve them - there are enough of those around already.

It tells the history of beer and pubs in Britain; of beer's hallowed roots as a gift from the gods to cheer us up, through to the last pint of Stella on a Friday night. And how the front room of a house with a big stick above the door evolved into gin palaces, working men's clubs and gastropubs.

It's a story that features a whole host of unlikely characters, including an Egyptian Goddess, John Noakes, Isambard Kingdom Brunel, a Canadian bloke who invented toasters, a couple of goats, Louis Pasteur, obsessive monks, a bear in a yellow nylon jacket, and some spitfires.

It's like history, but a bit unsteady. It's a warped and distorted history of the country itself, through the bottom of a pint glass. Buy it here.