Download or read book The Alcoholic Empire written by Patricia Herlihy and published by Oxford University Press on Demand. This book was released on 2002 with total page 253 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "In The Alcoholic Empire, Patricia Herlihy illuminates the complex relationship between vodka and politics in Russia, focusing on the history and role of temperance organizations in the late imperial period. She traces the beginning of temperance activities to 1894, when Nicholas II created a monopoly on the sale and production of alcohol. Temperance advocates - a diverse group that ranged from Tolstoy to illiterate peasants and included laity, clergy, and workers, men and women, the medical professions, the Duma, and the military - disagreed about the causes and remedies for alcoholism, but they agreed that it was a social and moral problem for which the government should be held accountable."--BOOK JACKET.