Petie Kladstrup

Don Kladstrup

Describes how members of five prominent wine-making families from Burgundy, Alsace, the Loire Valley, Bordeaux, and Champagne risked their lives to protect their most precious wines from Nazi plunder during World War II. 25,000 first printing.

The French, the Nazis, and the Battle for France's Greatest Treasure

Wine and War

Throughout history, waves of invaders have coveted the northeast corner of France: Attila the Hun in the fifth century, the English in the Hundred Years War, the Prussians in the nineteenth century. Yet this region – which historians say has suffered more battles and wars than any other place on earth – is also the birthplace of one thing the entire world equates with good times, friendship and celebration: champagne. Champagne is the story of the world's favourite wine. It tells how a sparkling beverage that became the toast of society during the Belle Epoque emerged after World War I as a global icon of fine taste and good living. The book celebrates the gutsy, larger–than–life characters whose proud determination nurtured and preserved the land and its grapes throughout centuries of conflict.

How the World's Most Glamorous Wine Triumphed Over War and Hard Times

Champagne

Wine & War tells the little-known story of the French wine producers who undertook ingenious and often daring measures to save their finest and most precious wines as the Nazis closed in on them.

Journalists Don and Petie Kladstrup show how this sparkling wine, born of bloodshed, became a symbol of glamour, good times, and celebration. It's a story filled with larger-than-life characters: Dom Pérignon, the father of champagne, who, contrary to popular belief, worked his entire life to keep bubbles out of champagne; the Sun King, Louis XIV, who rarely drank anything but; and Charles-Camille Heidsieck, known as "Champagne Charlie," who popularized champagne in America and ended up being imprisoned as a spy during the Civil War. World War I would be Champagne's greatest test of all, a four-year nightmare in which German bombardment drove thousands of people underground to seek refuge in the huge cellars of the champagne houses, where among the bottles you would find schools, hospitals, shops, municipal offices, and troops.--From publisher description.

Machine generated contents note: List of Illustrations -- Introduction -- Chapter One: The First Sip -- Chapter Two: Young Charles -- Chapter Three: Discovery of the New World -- Chapter Four: Reading the Stars -- Chapter Five: The Panic -- Chapter Six: The Lion of New York -- Chapter Seven: Southern Comfort -- Chapter Eight: "It's War" -- Chapter Nine: The Beast -- Chapter Ten: Into the Jaws -- Chapter Eleven: "We Are Not in Venice" -- Chapter Twelve: The Homecoming -- Chapter Thirteen: The Man Who Never Forgot -- Chapter Fourteen: "War Seems to Follow Me" -- Chapter Fifteen: The Denver Miracle -- Epilogue -- Bibliography -- Notes -- Index.

The Frenchman Who Taught Americans to Love Champagne

Champagne Charlie

Champagne Charlie tells the history of champagne and the thrilling tale of how the go-to celebratory drink of our time made its way to the United States, thanks to the controversial figure of Charles "Champagne Charlie" Heidsieck.

Don Kladstrup

About

Books

Join the club