{"product_id":"9780733634024","title":"Grog: A Bottled History of Australia's First 30 Years","description":"\u003cb\u003eThe story of grog is the story of Australia. This is how it all began.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eEven before James Squire set sail as a convict aboard the First Fleet, liquor was playing its part in shaping the colony-to-be. Who was entitled to it and who wasn't; who could make and sell it and who couldn't; and how the young and thirsty colony could make itself self-sufficient in booze. As the colony grew, rum became both a currency and a source of political strength and instability, culminating in the Rum Rebellion in 1808, and what one observer said was a society of 'drunkenness, gaming and debaucheries'.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eNow, with \u003ci\u003eGrog\u003c\/i\u003e, writer Tom Gilling presents a compelling bottled history of the first three decades of European settlement: how the men and women of New South Wales transformed the colony from a squalid and starving convict settlement into a prosperous trading town with fashionable Georgian street names and a monumental two-storey hospital built by private contractors in exchange for a monopoly on rum.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eGrog\u003c\/i\u003e is a colourful account of the unique beginnings of a new nation, and a unique insight into the history of Australia's long love affair with the hard stuff.","brand":"Hachette Australia","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47106490433776,"sku":"9780733634024","price":11.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/9780733634024_p0.jpg?v=1763624329","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/9780733634024","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}