Historian Adam Zientek is the author of A Thirst For Wine & War: The Intoxication of French Soldiers on the Western Front (2024), winner of the Tomlinson Prize for best First World War monograph.In this episode, Adam shares his groundbreaking research on the role of wine and distilled alcohol in the daily lives of French soldiers during World War I. From boosting morale to masking the stench of death in the trenches, alcohol became a powerful tool of survival and solidarity. As of 1915, up to 35% of every French winemaker's harvest went directly to the military. Soldiers called wine 'Pinard', the lifeline in a world of chaos and fear.We explore how wine became a symbol of courage, community, and even national identity on the Western Front, and how intoxication was woven into the brutal fabric of modern warfare.Don’t miss this deep dive into the social history of alcohol and war, and how it shaped the experience of trench fighting in WWI.