Opening paragraphs.............

 In the 1720's, London was busy getting drunk.  Really drunk.  The city was in the grips of a gin-drinking binge, largely driven by new arrivals from the countryside in search of work.  The characteristics of gin were attractive: fermented with grain that could be bought locally, packing a kick greater than that of beer, and considerably less expensive than imported wine, gin became a kind of anesthetic fro the burgeoning population enduring profound new stresses of urban life.  These stressed generated new behaviors, including what came to be called the Gin Craze.

-Clay Shirky, Cognitive Surplus