My friend Martyn Cornell, who has died suddenly aged 72, was a renowned historian of beer. His book Porter and Stout: A Complete History, which had taken him seven years to write, was published three days later.
It covers 300 years and 56 countries, and caps an impressive output of entertaining, informative and myth-debunking books. They include Beer: The Story of the Pint (2004); Amber, Gold & Black: The History of Britain’s Great Beers (2010); Strange Tales of Ale (2015); and Around the World in 80 Beers: A Global History of Brewing (2024). He won several awards from the British Guild of Beer Writers.
