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At the height of its popularity in the late nineteenth century, absinthe reigned in the bars, cafés, and restaurants of France and its colonial empire. Yet by the time it was banned in 1915, the famous green fairy had become the green peril, feared for its connection with declining birth rates and its apparent capacity to induce degeneration, madness, and murderous rage in its consumers.
As one of history’s most notorious drinks, absinthe has been the subject of myth, scandal, and controversy. The Hour of Absinthe explores how this mythologizing led to the creation and fabrication of a vast modern folklore while key historical events, crucial to understanding the story of absinthe, have been neglected or unreported. Mystique and moralizing both arose from the spirit’s relationship with empire. Some claim that French soldiers were given daily absinthe rations during France’s military conquest of Algeria to protect them against heat, diseases, and contaminated water. In fact, the overenthusiastic adoption of the drink by these soldiers, and subsequently by French settlers, was perceived as a threat to France’s colonial ambitions – an anxiety that migrated into French medicine.
Providing keen insight into how local cultural narratives about absinthe shaped what quickly became a global reputation, Nina Studer provides a panoptic view of the French Empire’s influence on absinthe’s spectacular fall from grace.
"Studer tempts with intriguing accounts like that of Paris’ Belle Époque, when absinthe was the liquor of choice, heralding what we now recognize as French apéritif or ‘happy hour.’ An engaging read for history enthusiasts, Francophiles, and casual drinkers alike." *Culinary Historians of Canada/Historiens Culinaire du Canada *
"In this fascinating book, Studer identifies untruths and exposes prejudices [and] masterfully picks them apart, to provide the reader with a complex, nuanced history." Petits Propos Culinaires
"The Hour of Absinthe is necessary reading for those interested in the history of alcohol and that of the early Third Republic. Well-researched and refreshingly free of jargon, it will undoubtedly be the canonical work on the history of absinthe for years to come." H-France
“Studer’s careful attention to absinthe’s colonial context means The Hour of Absinthe can be considered as the most distinctive and wide-ranging resource on the history of absinthe. The Hour of Absinthe is a welcome and much-needed addition to the growing field of alcohol history.” American Historical Review
“The Hour of Absinthe is a cultural history that does something genuinely difficult: it clears away a century of myth-making without stripping the subject of its fascination. With careful attention to absinthe’s colonial dimension, Studer reveals how fears of degeneration, fertility decline, and national weakness were projected onto the drink itself. She shows how absinthe’s reputation was shaped not only by excess and scandal, but by selective reporting, professional rivalries within medicine, and the needs of a state increasingly anxious about population and productivity on the eve of total war. The result is a far more grounded and far more unsettling story than the popular folklore allows.” G.J. Meyer