Empire Live 2025

Historians William Dalrymple and Anita Anand are taking their sold-out London live show, Booze & Brews, on a UK TOUR this summer!
In each of these special shows, they’ll explore the extraordinary history of ordinary drinks such as tea, beer and gin & tonic.
From the breakfast drinking habits of the East India Company men who were so scared to drink the local water that they ‘purified’ it by adding alcohol, to the British obsession with tea leading to the outbreak of war, you can expect lots of surprising historical insights, as well as answers to audience questions!