As long as there have been people, there has been drinking – and as long as there has been drinking, there has been drinking stupidly. Across centuries and continents this universal pastime has spawned an astonishing array of drinking games – some elaborate and considered, others down-right absurd – designed to entertain, punish, impress and inebriate. In this book, Elliot Martyn takes us on a captivating guided tour of some of our forebearers’ silliest drinking rituals, revealing how they began and even how to recreate them (if you dare). From the Ancient Greeks flinging wine across the room in competitive abandon to nineteenth-century Italians gatekeeping the drinks of their peers, this book is packed full of fascinating trivia and hilarious historical anecdotes.