Don and Petie Kladstrup share how a sparkling beverage that was the toast of Belle Epoque society not only survived the bloodbath of World War I, but grew even.!
New York, William Morrow & Co, 2005.
We are former journalists, longtime residents of France and authors of three books, all wine-related but based around three wars that shook the world.
Our first, Wine & War: the French, the Nazis and the Battle for France’s Greatest Treasure, is an international best-seller and tells the story of how French wine producers in World War II struggled to survive under the Nazi occupation.
Our second book, Champagne: How the World’s Most Glamorous Wine Triumphed Over War and Hard Times, revolves around World War I when nearly everything in that part of France was destroyed. Like Wine & War, it's been translated into more than a dozen languages and become a hit worldwide.
In our third book, Champagne Charlie: the Frenchman Who Taught Americans to Love Champagne, we retreated further in time to tell how a daring young Frenchman set off for America to seek his fortune but ended up being arrested as a spy for the South in the U.S.
Civil War.
Still ahead are a