The Pub ─ A Cultural Institution--From Country Inns to Craft Beer Bars and Corner Locals

Pete Brown has visited hundreds of pubs across the UK and is uniquely placed to write about pubs that ooze atmosphere, for whatever reason - food, people, architecture, location or decor. The best pubs are those that always have a steady trade at any time on any day of the week, and where chat flows back and forth across the bar. They're the places where you want to drink weak beer so you can have several pints and stay longer. Some are grand Victorian palaces, others ancient inns with stunning views across the hills. Some are ale shrines, others gastropubs (though they probably don't call themselves that any more). A precious few are uniquely eccentric, the kinds of places that are just as likely to have terrible reviews on Trip Advisor as great ones, because some people don't realize that the outside toilets, limp sandwiches on the bar and really disturbing full-size mannequin glaring at you from the corner are all part of the charm.

This collection of 300 pubs with atmosphere will include 50 pub features and 250 smaller descriptions, alongside quirks of local history, pen portraits of punters or publicans, legends, yarns and myths, and case studies of different trends and types of pub.

Pete Brown used to advertise beer for a living before he realized that writing about it was even more fun, and came with even more free beer. He contributes to The Times and The Guardian newspapers and has a fortnightly column in the pub trade newspaper, the Morning Advertiser. Pete also regularly writes for Cidercraft and All About Beer Magazine, both published in North America. He also writes the annual report on Britain's cask ale market, sings beer's praises on TV and radio, and is a key judge for the BBC Radio 4 Food and Farming Awards, as well as performing talks and tastings at literary festivals, food & drink festivals and beer & food matching dinners. He is the author of four bestselling books about beer: Man Walks into a Pub, Three Sheets to the Wind, Hops and Glory and Shakespeare's Local (published by St Martin's in the USA). He has 15k followers on Twitter and 30k hits per month on his award-winning blog:www.petebrown.blogspot.co.uk.