Object Lessons is a series of short beautifully designed books about the hidden lives of
ordinary things. Gin tastes like Christmas to some and rotten pine chips to others but nearly
everyone familiar with the spirit holds immediate gin nostalgia. Although early medical
textbooks treated it as a healing agent early alchemists (as well as their critics) claimed
gin's base was a path to immortality-and also Satan's tool. In more recent times the gin trade
consolidated the commercial and political power of nations and prompted a social campaign
against women. Gin has been used successfully as a defense for murder blamed for massive
unrest in 18th-century England and advertised for as an abortifacient. From its harshest
proto-gin distillation days to the current smooth craft models gin plays a powerful cultural
role in film music and literature-one that is arguably older broader and more complex than
any other spirit. Object Lessons is published in partnership with an essay series in The
Atlantic.
