"[Sabine N. Meyer] offers a fresh perspective that describes the temperance movement as a struggle among competing groups with distinct identities based on civic loyalty, religious affiliation, ethnicity, and different conceptions of women's roles. . . . A remarkable accomplishment by a young scholar who brings empathy and a clear-eyed analysis to a distinctly American phenomenon."--American Historical Review
"Sabine Meyer's We Are What We Drink: The Temperance Battle in Minnesota challenges this surface understanding of the era, and evaluates the temperance movement as a social movement that resulted in American identity formation and reconfiguration… Any scholar of American social movements, social history, or culture studies will find this book essential reading."--Journalism History
"A major contribution to temperance and ethnic history. . . . Meyer combines theoretical awareness with massive archival research. Her chief interest is identity. She is critical of earlier temperance histories that describe a moral crusade by Protestant, middle-class, Anglo-Americans and privilege class and religion at the expense of ethnicity, gender, and place. Her local study offers a corrective. Recommended."--Choice
"A fascinating volume that explores temperance through multiple lenses of ethnicity, gender, class, religion, and place."--Minnesota History
"Meyer performed extensive research in the archives of many of the temperance organizations, government records, and contemporary newspapers and other publications… Meyer blends clear explanations with well-chosen examples to show how the world the German brewers knew was changing… A compelling case that food and drink is an important subject for historical analysis, and it is a cultural expression just as significant as any other."--On the Bookshelf
"A major contribution to temperance and ethnic history."--Journal of American Ethnic History