RMS - Gin: the Spirit of Westminster from the slums to the Savoy

Helen Naylor returns to talk about the story of gin. The story crosses continents, oceans and a time period of 300 years, from the gin craze of the 18th century to the 21st century ‘Ginaissance’. Discover more about gin’s extraordinary heritage: a rollercoaster of a tale involving religion, medicine, empire, Westminster’s Georgian slums, the royal family and the Royal Navy.

Gin’s origins lie in the Geneva spirit introduced to England during the Glorious Revolution by William III. But just 60 years later, the gin craze became a social catastrophe. The long road to respectability took in new distilling processes and, with Gordons and Beefeater leading the charge, the G & T went global, and dazzling Victorian gin palaces appeared in London. Gin in the 20th century is a transatlantic tale featuring Prohibition, the Bright Young Things and the Savoy Hotel amid the ebb and flow of cocktails.