Bars are filled with stories and many stories take place in bars, but what about the story behind the bar? That's where these two books come in... The Joy of Mixology by Gary Regan and Imbibe! by David Wondrich. If there was anything published about bars, lounges, liquor, cocktails and mixed drinks it's likely these two guys were able to find it and bring those stories to light for the rest of us in two editions which would be invaluable additions to anyone's library (even if you're not entirely enamored by cocktail and bar history like some of us). They are each a trip through time and together they form as complete a picture as will probably ever be possible of all the dead, revived and always-will-be cocktails (and the barkeeps behind them) of the past few centuries. Given the nature of alcohol (and it's subsequent intoxications) almost every story has its twist, something to shake it up, and Regan and Wondrich have fully accepted that fact and did a wonderful job sorting out fact from fiction. Then, also worthy of mention and equally noteworthy, Eric Felton's How's Your Drink? has a fascinating history of a few select drinks.