Champagne: How the World's Most Glamorous Wine Triumphed Over War and Hard Times
A history of champagne traces the story of its origins in verdant northern France, a region overcome by Visigoths, barbarians, and other invaders, in an account that identifies such contributors to its development as Louis XIV and Napoleon and traces how champagne evolved through periods of violence to become a symbol of celebration. Reprint. 10,000 first printing.
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Throughout history, waves of invaders have coveted the northeast corner of France: Attila the Hun in the fifth century, the English in the Hundred Years War, the Prussians in the nineteenth century. Yet this region – which historians say has suffered more battles and wars than any other place on earth – is also the birthplace of one thing the entire world equates with good times, friendship and celebration: champagne. Champagne is the story of the world's favourite wine. It tells how a sparkling beverage that became the toast of society during the Belle Epoque emerged after World War I as a global icon of fine taste and good living. The book celebrates the gutsy, larger–than–life characters whose proud determination nurtured and preserved the land and its grapes throughout centuries of conflict.
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