CIDER COUNTRY

'Fizzing with fruity stories and yeasty historical tales' - Alice Roberts, the sub-title of the book is 'How an Ancient Craft Became a Way of Life' and the book is enormously fun and a BBC Radio Four Food Programme Book of the Year. Join James Crowden as he embarks on a journey to distil the ancient origins of cider, uncovering a rich culture and philosophy that has united farmer, maker and drinker for millennia. It has been at the heart of country life for hundreds of years, but the fascinating story of how this drink came into existence and why it became so deeply rooted in the nation's psyche has never been told. Crowden traces an elusive history stretching back to the ancient, myth-infused civilisations of the Mediterranean and the wild apple forests of Kazakhstan. He meets cider experts, farmers and historians and we read about monks, pirates and politicians who formed a pioneering and evangelical fan base. The nation's love affair with cider didn't fully blossom until after the Reformation when the thirst for knowledge about the drink was at its peak. This infatuation with the experimentation would lead to remarkable innovations and the creation of a 'sparkling cider', a technique that predated Dom Pérignon's Champagne by 40 years. And today Crowden meets the next generation of cider makers and unearths a unique philosophy that has been shared through the ages and new ways to produce this golden drink enjoyed by so many. It is a story of our country through the culture, craft and consumption of our most iconic rural drink. 448 pages, paperback with fairly large print and illus.