[Sca-cooks] Unger, "Beer in the Middle Ages"

[Sandra Kisner]

A book of interest to brewers/brewsters (have I got that right?) here and 
on other lists.  I'll send the entire review to any who are interested.

Sandra

****

Subject: BMR: Unger, Beer in the Middle Ages (Nicholas)
(from TMR 06.01.15)

Unger, Richard W. <i>Beer in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance</i>.
Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2004. 22
illustrations, 12 tables. Pp. xvii + 319. $45.00 (hb). ISBN 0-8122-
3795-1.

Reviewed by David Nicholas, Clemson University, dmnicholas at nctv.com.

This book extends to a more general level the themes of Unger's A History 
of Brewing in Holland, 900-1900: Economy, Technology, and the State 
(Leiden: E. J. Brill, 2001). He has used Belgian and Dutch archives and the 
Public Record Office, as well as printed documents, literary, iconographic, 
and anthropological material, and the substantial secondary literature.
  <major snip>
Although his topic imposes a north European focus, Unger makes regional 
comparisons. This is an important book, going beyond what is usually found 
in a synthesis. His analysis has important implications for the nature and 
comparative development of technology diffusion and social and industrial 
organization, as well as more obviously local and interregional trade. This 
work can accordingly be read with profit by persons who dislike beer, 
although enjoyment of it is enhanced by an appreciation of Unger's 
meticulous expositions about ingredients and taste.

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