Rating: 
Summary: Eminently readable...
Review: ...and a wealth of information. Conrad's book is the definitive work on the subject and for good reason. He paints a vivid portrait of the Belle Epoque from the vantage of a Montmartre cafe. An extraordinarily vibrant book that transports the reader to fin de siecle Paris. Highly recommended!
Rating: 
Summary: A wonderful history and reference
Review: A very readable history on the mysterious green liquor, this book portrays a historical account of the rise and fall of mainstream Absinthe. Wonderfully illustrated with posters, liquor ads, labels, photographs, drawings, and paintings influenced by the Green Fairy around the turn of the century. It also gives insight into its ultimate demise. Slightly disappointing, there is not a lot of information on the discovery of Wormwood and the effects of consumption of the notorious plant.
Rating:
Summary: an excellent resource & tribute to Absinthe
Review: Comprehensive, detailed, & elegantly designed. Covers the facts & the hysteria surrounding this mysterious 19th century addiction. Gives plenty of space to the potent drink's silvery seduction too.
Rating:
Summary: Fascinating panorama of time and place and people
Review: Conrad's unique and fascinating book, reprinted with slightly different covers in the last year or so (evidently in response to new interest in absinthe), is actually a panorama of cultural cross-currents -- history, art, literature, etc. -- from a colorful place and time (France and nearby countries in late 19th and early 20th centuries) -- with absinthe as the thread that glues it all together. Conrad, by the way, followed this up with his entertaining, rather more light-hearted 1995 book on the history and culture of the Martini, well timed for that cocktail's vigorous comeback in recent years.I first heard about absinthe from my parents, who were trained in fine arts (and were among bohemian circles in Berkeley, California, my home town, in the 1950s and 1960s). They mentioned the intense Impressionist painters and others who drank it. The defining ingredient is Artemisia absinthium, a common decorative and medicinal herb since ancient times and one of a group of similar plants known as wormwoods or mugworts. I've tasted modern commercial absinthes in the last 20 years from two countries, as well as an extract of the A. absinthium plant, which has a lingering, wretchedly bitter taste not soon forgotten. The anise and other sweet spices that flavor absinthe liquor are there to make it palatable. The stuff has a considerable mystique, due in part to the colorful figures who drank so much of it, as Conrad details with gusto. It is said to be psychoactive in its own right; maybe or maybe not, but it unquestionably has a lot of alcohol, and that was the psychoactivity I noticed when I tried it. Of course, I didn't take the 10 or 20 shots a day for ten years that Conrad's 19th-century bohemians did, so I can't say I've had the full experience. In any event the main principle, thujone, is also prominent in sage, and the wormwood plants are used in flavoring vermouths, according to Conrad and other sources. The true absinthe liquor was an early casualty of the Prohibition movement and remains illegal in many countries on (disputed) health grounds. The following may interest readers curious about absinthe. While there is a minor industry in importing allegedly genuine absinthe into the US, at high prices, from countries where it can be legally manufactured, about the beginning of 2000 specialty importers began bringing into the US a fully legal French product called Versinthe (from the Liquoristerie de Provence, whose Web site includes English documentation). According to the manufacturer's literature and to one of the importers I spoke to directly, this product contains just the limit of A. absinthium permitted by law in France and the US, but also contains supplemental extracts of closely related mugworts of genus Artemisia, with similar chemical makeup but not covered by the very specific absinthe prohibition. In any event the flavor resembles those of classic absinthes much more than do any of the numerous substitutes such as Muse Vert. The product is sweetened, unlike classic absinthe where the ritual of pouring water over a sugar cube on a slotted spoon was part of the mystique.
Rating:
Summary: An interesting coffee table book.
Review: Generally a good history of a journalistic rather than scholarly kind. Unlike other books on this topic it sticks to absinthe rather than getting side-tracked into details of artists and writers not relevant to their absinthe consumption. Covers the history of wormwood, the technology of production and the present day use of absinthe. Recommended if you have an interest in 19th century French art or absinthe itself.
Rating:
Summary: Good Read
Review: I couldn't put it down! 'Absinthe' is a very well written account of it's power over French quotidian society. The book shows that things weren't so different back then when it comes to addiction. If you are a Francophile and would like another recommendation, read 'Paris in the Fifties' by Stanley Karnow. It's amazing.
Rating:
Summary: Absinthe Minded!
Review: I couldn't put it down! 'Absinthe' is a very well written account of it's power over French quotidian society. The book shows that things weren't so different back then when it comes to addiction. If you are a Francophile and would like another recommendation, read 'Paris in the Fifties' by Stanley Karnow. It's amazing.
Rating:
Summary: One of the best books I've ever read
Review: I have been a fan of this book ever since it first came out in 1988. No amazon.com then, so I was forced to order it at the local Walden books. I have since given it as a gift several times and all my friends love it,too. Not just a history of the "green fairy," but a sociological history of 19th century France. Every page in this glossily produced, gorgeous book has either an old photograph, advertisement for absinthe or reproduction of art from the artists who were fans of absinthe. Really an art book, it is for anyone interested in art and history.
Rating:
Summary: A slick history of Absinthe for the curious
Review: I stumbled across Absinthe: History in a Bottle when checking
out the various Absinthe web pages seeking a source for
Wormwood. After a Czech dinner party, I'm afraid I have
become somewhat obsessed with finding Absinthe, even if it
means making it myself.
I ordered Conrad's book, which arrived yesterday. I read it
cover to cover last night. Wonderful history, excellent
photos and artwork, all in all one of the few books I've
seen truly worthy of sitting on your coffee table...shows
your guests just how eclectic you are.
Still haven't found wormwood though.
Rating:
Summary: Verte La Fée lives!
Review: I was assigned this book in a course I took on "France at the Turn of the Century", and I have referred to it many times since. It not only explains the chemistry and physiological aspects of absinthe, but it gives one of the best overviews of the times and how this "green fairy" defined those times. The posters, the reproductions of famous absinthe-related paintings, everything about the book is wonderful. A friend smuggled a bottle of absinthe out of Europe not too long ago, and a few of us had a giggly, sensuous time reading poetry and combing through "History in a Bottle"...I highly (forgive the pun) recommend the experience! But read this book with or without the...um...atmosphere!
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