A fresh and dynamic journey through one of Australia's most-loved institutions, this intoxicating history explores the pub from its colonial origins along the waterfronts and roadways used by travelers to the boutique bars of contemporary cosmopolitanism. This account traces the essential role of the pub as an enduring provider of drink, food, entertainment, accommodation, and illegal betting, as well as its relationship to sport and its battles with licensing laws. Topics also include patrons' loyalty to the local, the friendship of the lounge, the work of kitchen staff and barmaids, and classic pub architecture and heritage. This beautiful book not only celebrates pubs, but proves that they are--and always have been--more than just a place to drink.

Diane Kirkby is a history professor at La Trobe University in Melbourne and a fellow of the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia. She has received awards from the Australian Historical Association and the Fulbright Association. She is the author of Voices from the Ships. Tanja Luckins is an award-winning historian who is currently an ARC research fellow at the Australian Centre at the University of Melbourne. She is the coeditor of Dining on Turtles: Food, Feasts and Drinking in History. They are the coauthors of GO! Melbourne in the 1960s. Chris McConville is a lecturer at Victoria University and a former lecturer at the University of the Sunshine Coast Queensland.