Blood and Whiskey: The Life and Times of Jack Daniel

Amazing book not only for those interested in the history of Jack Daniel but also the history of distilleries. The writer was very tedious in his research and portraying the culture of the liquor movement from the mid 1800's through the life and times of Jack Daniel. Even after his death in 1911 the author continues the story of the distillery and how his predecessors moved forward with the company. While I did not intend on reading this book to learn more about overall history of whiskey it was littered with historical facts from the civil war to the origins of the bourbon roots in Kentucky. The books digs into the competition that Jack had to persevere through tightening controls by the government. Overall, don't shy away from the book due to the price (like I did when I was actually in Lynchburg, TN), it's worth every penny.

I will add a review of the books contents after I read it. It is on my shelf waiting to be read. As far as arrival speed and happiness with the service, there is no complaints.

Bought it as a gift, he was really excited

My husband loved it thought it was more academic but the enjoyed the history aspect. He loves non-fiction and he never read about whiskey making except from gangster movies. He has a new respect for the craftsmen behind the product.

A very interesting book to read about Jack Daniels life and how he gain fame staring Jack Daniel’s Whiskey. A must read.

As one who enjoys the products of the Jack Daniel Distillery I find this history fascinating. As a devoted Tennessee Squire I use the information from this book, along with knowledge gained in my visits to "the hollow" to spread the gospel about this great American story.

This was a well written, detailed description of not only Jack Daniel's life,but also the times in which he grew up. Krass did a great job of weaving the history of American whiskey making and it's Scottish (and Scots-Irish) roots through rich fabric of Mr. Daniel's story. A great testimony to ingenuity, self sufficiency, independent spirit and enterpreneurship. A quick and enjoyable read. History in narrative form. Makes me want to read more of Mr. Krass' work. As an added bonus, I now know how Old No.7 got its name!

loved reading about the start of jack daniels

Good Book

Living as close to Lynchburg as I do, this book is just jam packed full of the history about the area. This is definitely a book that's hard to put down. Highly recommmended!

Amazing book not only for those interested in the history of Jack Daniel but also the history of distilleries. The writer was very tedious in his research and portraying the culture of the liquor movement from the mid 1800's through the life and times of Jack Daniel. Even after his death in 1911 the author continues the story of the distillery and how his predecessors moved forward with the company. While I did not intend on reading this book to learn more about overall history of whiskey it was littered with historical facts from the civil war to the origins of the bourbon roots in Kentucky. The books digs into the competition that Jack had to persevere through tightening controls by the government. Overall, don't shy away from the book due to the price (like I did when I was actually in Lynchburg, TN), it's worth every penny.

I will add a review of the books contents after I read it. It is on my shelf waiting to be read. As far as arrival speed and happiness with the service, there is no complaints.

Bought it as a gift, he was really excited

My husband loved it thought it was more academic but the enjoyed the history aspect. He loves non-fiction and he never read about whiskey making except from gangster movies. He has a new respect for the craftsmen behind the product.

A very interesting book to read about Jack Daniels life and how he gain fame staring Jack Daniel’s Whiskey. A must read.

As one who enjoys the products of the Jack Daniel Distillery I find this history fascinating. As a devoted Tennessee Squire I use the information from this book, along with knowledge gained in my visits to "the hollow" to spread the gospel about this great American story.

This was a well written, detailed description of not only Jack Daniel's life,but also the times in which he grew up. Krass did a great job of weaving the history of American whiskey making and it's Scottish (and Scots-Irish) roots through rich fabric of Mr. Daniel's story. A great testimony to ingenuity, self sufficiency, independent spirit and enterpreneurship. A quick and enjoyable read. History in narrative form. Makes me want to read more of Mr. Krass' work. As an added bonus, I now know how Old No.7 got its name!

loved reading about the start of jack daniels

Good Book

Living as close to Lynchburg as I do, this book is just jam packed full of the history about the area. This is definitely a book that's hard to put down. Highly recommmended!

Love this book!

I bought this for my Jack Daniels loving husband. He isn't a big reader, but he hasn't been able to put it down. If you want to learn more about Jack Daniels life, this book will be a great place to start.

Excellent book. Not sure why 'Blood' is in the title. Sure, bad things happened but hell, it was the mid/late 1800's in Tennessee.

Easy to read and lots of history. It makes Jack's life very personal. It makes a person wish he/she could have met Jack

purchased this book for a family member who is a collector of all things Jack Daniels. He loved it!

I read and very much enjoyed "American Still Life " by Paul Pacult, however this book "Blood and Whiskey " was a big disappointment. I could not put "American Still Life " down..this one "Blood and Whiskey" was hard to pick up. Over all as a history book was O K .

Product as advertised, great price, speedy delivery, no hassles! I would purchase from this vendor again.

As an avid fan of both the Jack Daniel's brand and its various products, I was looking very much forward to reading Blood & Whiskey; having just completed said reading, I am left feeling unfulfilled and a little perturbed by various aspects of the author's writing style and substance. Part of the premise of the writing of this book is the author's encounters with numerous folks who have asked him whether or not there was a Jack Daniel. This, as the opening line of the book, troubled me as Jack Daniel is arguably the most recognizable face in whiskey. With a dearth of documentation regarding Jack Daniel, there is a consequently low number of resources for anyone interested in learning more about the legendary distiller. As such, Mr. Krass' effort represents a great opportunity for fans of the brand but it fails ultimately to deliver for a few key reasons. Most glaringly is Mr. Krass' inconsistency in presenting Jack Daniel, his brand, and those related to it. The hallmark of a great biographer is objectivity in terms of tone and content; Mr. Krass fails to deliver the former while vacillating greatly with the latter. Given the author's self-proclaimed love of the whiskey in question, I mistakenly assumed that Mr. Krass' viewpoint would be favorable as it pertains to the Jack Daniel brand. Instead, it varied wildly between moments of blatant pomposity (particularly when the author references living residents of Lynchburg and their speech patterns) and of trite condescension (especially with a brief discussion of the Tennessee Squires in which the author references the group's communications as being, "...corny but well-meaning" and embodying a, "...folksy tone [that] is ubiquitous"). Regarding the company's marketing efforts, Mr. Krass regards them as featuring, "...local folks, evoking a slower-paced, simple lifestyle with good old boys sittin' around, shootin' the breeze, whittlin' sticks, and watchin' the whiskey age. Some ads even flaunted the hillbilly culture." (Krass p. 229). Though occasionally favorable, the overall tone that Mr. Krass takes towards Jack Daniel and his brand is one of poorly masked derision--odd given his status as a biographer and the subject matter of this particular work. While Mr. Krass' information is both interesting and invaluable to a Jack Daniel's fan, it is unfortunately mired in poor writing structure and delivered with surprising inconsistency. The writer, mid-chapter, will often disembark upon a tangent only to abruptly return to his original aim never to bring up the rambling aside again. Though occasionally entertaining I found it to be mostly distracting and displeasing. Overall, the wealth of information in Blood & Whiskey was new to me and, despite the way it was written, I found it to be both interesting and worth reading. With that said, if you have high expectations or hopes going into your reading of this book then you might wish to dampen them. This is not a book lauding Jack Daniel; it is, at its heart, an effort to throw shade at the legend of Jack Daniel by way of discrediting and devaluing most of what is known about the man, rendering it nothing more than clever marketing by the now-parent company Brown-Forman. I was expecting, at best, a well-written read about one of my favorite figures in the liquor industry that mirrored my level of enthusiasm; at worst, I hoped for a strictly objective, disconnected history of Jack Daniel, the distiller, and the empire that he created. Blood & Whiskey fell somewhere outside of both with occasional snobbery, an overuse of detail (at times) battling with questionable sources (also at times), and a blatant disregard for traditional biographical conventions most notably missing being the aforementioned objectivity. Mr. Krass' attempts at jovial, colloquial tones left this reader grossly wanting; his strengths manifested solely during moments of recanting well-documented historical aspects. Even then though the middle of the book felt more like a look back on the Civil War than a book about arguably the United States' most influential and beloved distillery of whiskey. Given the scarcity of tomes on the life of Mr. Daniel (Blood & Whiskey happens to be referenced almost solely on the Jack Daniel's Wikipedia page), I would recommend Mr. Krass' book solely on those grounds. I'm sure that time will deliver a superior, far more enjoyable read than this and so I would suggest awaiting its arrival.

A double shot of a biography on whiskey magnate Jack Daniel with hard-work and determination as the foundation to his life and principles. Born in the mid-1800's and orphaned at the age of fifteen, JD immediately found himself working in a local Tennessee distillery manufacturing some of the highest quality spirits in the region from men who were the best in the business. He was known as the boy distiller. In his early twenties, he had the opportunity to partnership with his mentor and the rest as they say is history. It was not easy though. For decades he battled revenuers, the government, corrupt officials, temperance groups and later the prohibition movement. Even with these many adversities throughout his life, philanthropy was his middle name. Peter Krass has uncorked an imbibing read of a unique man and the times in which he lived.