Bitter Brew: The Rise and Fall of Anheuser-Busch and America's Kings of Beer

Stretching through three centuries, from the start of the Civil War, to the election of Barack Obama, to today, BITTER BREW tells the astonishing story of how five generations of men - fathers, sons, and brothers - took a small, bankrupt brewery that made bad-tasting bock beer on the banks of the Mississippi and turned it into an international colossus, on the strength of the world's most popular brand of beer, Budweiser. In the process, the men of the Busch family tasted all that America ever promised to the immigrant class from which they sprang - wealth, political power, public acclaim, and a lifestyle that rivaled those of history's most extravagant royalty. Along with this came a king-sized portion of heartbreak, scandal, tragedy, and death.
In chronicling the Busch way of life and business, veteran journalist William Knoedelseder also tells a broader story of American progress and decline over the last 150 years. At its core, BITTER BREW is a cautionary tale about prosperity, hubris, and loss.