Written by David Nathan-Maister, the book surveys the history of absinthe from earliest days right up to the present, with a particular focus on its glittering heyday in Belle Epoque France. Hundreds of full colour illustrations document every aspect of the drink - its distillation and production, the grande marques that distributed it, the bars and cafes that served it, the patrons - men and women, rich and poor, soldiers and politicians, poets, artists, lovers and boulevardiers - who drank it. Special sections describe the various drinking rituals in exhaustive detail, others deal with absinthes popularity and spread in the USA, its alleged "secondary effects" and the disputed syndrome of absinthism, the hard fought and ultimately successful campaign to ban it in France, Switzerland and elsewhere, and 80 years later, its modern renaissance at the dawn of the 21st century.