Ten Cocktails: The Art of Convivial Drinking, by Alice Lascelles

The unassuming cover doesn't say much about its content, but Ten Cocktails by Alice Lascelles is a simple book that's all about 10 classic cocktails any bartender or barfly would be familiar with. These include the Gin and Tonic, Martini, Sazerac, Corpse Reviver No2, Negroni, Punch, Daiquiri, Old Fashioned, White Russian, and the Bloody Mary.

While we may all be familiar with the recipes and the flavors, how many of us know the history or even the cultural significance of drinks like the Martini, Negroni or Sazerac?

Before we go on, there's something to note: there aren't any images in the book. However, there are illustrations that guide you through topics like the flavor wheel or essential stemware.

Lascelles segregates the chapters by cocktail, with the first one on the simple Gin and Tonic. While it's the simplest of drinks, she talks about its history, starting with the gin. The Martini chapter debates the many claims of the origin of the drink and the myriad ways bartenders can be pedantic about the 'right version' – we've all been there, right?

She calls the Corpse Reviver No2 a "gin sour for the thinking drinker" and there's a bit where she talks about Art Deco-styled shakers, designed for the age of Zeppelins. Pity the book doesn't contain any images.

How many people know the true origin of the Negroni, dubbed the "King of Cocktails" by Kingsley Amis? Many cocktail lovers may know that it was named after an Italian nobility, and it's a boozier version of the Americano. But do you know why it was called 'Americano' in the first place?

The rest of the book continues in a similar vein, with added anecdotes from her personal experience.

If you're curious about the drinks you love, then you'll enjoy reading Alice's Ten Cocktails. It certainly makes for good bedtime reading – and contains interesting trivia for bar banters. But if you're looking for a coffee table book laced with pretty images, you'd have to find another book.