September 6, 2002 -- I must admit it, I reacted badly to this book when it landed in my mailbox. I mean, Britain has tens of thousands of pubs, an estimated five thousand plus in London alone. How can one man, even one as pub-savvy as Roger Protz, hope to itemize the five hundred best?

Then I cracked the cover and turned to the table of contents. Thankfully, the book is not arranged in a 'first to last' ranking of the 500 best. In fact, it's not arranged in any kind of ranking at all, just a classification of pubs under useful and occasionally eccentric headings like 'Pubs that brew their own beer,' 'Pubs for curries,' 'Ancient pubs,' and even 'Pubs with unusual names.' Interspersed with these categories are 'Pub walks' through regions like the Lake District, Hampstead and by the River Thames.

Okay, I'm warming to the format now, but what use is a listing of 'Pubs with good gardens' if you're specifically looking for pubs in Suffolk? Well, Protz has covered that, too, with a detailed indexing of the pubs by both name and county or region. So, for example, I can find the Red Lion in Kent by looking it up by its name, location or listing in the 'Red Lion pubs' section.

This is not a Good Beer Guide, although being a book written by one of the world's leading beer scribes, cask ale naturally fits into the pub evaluations. But the Good Beer Guide already exists, and Protz edits it, so why bother replicating it? No, this is rather a handy supplement to the GBG, useful for pub aficionados who recognize that the ale served is only part of the appeal of a great public house. And in that regard, it is not only a useful guide but also an entertaining read.

'Britain's 500 Best Pubs' does go a little overboard with the inclusion of bars in Lille, Brussels and Dublin - surely those are topics best left for publications where they can be studied in greater depth, as in Stephen D'Arcy's 'Selective Guide to Brussels Bars.' But that's a minor fault and one which detracts not a bit from the enjoyment of the book. My mind is changed, I like this book and am already looking forward to packing it in my suitcase for my next trip to the U.K.

Britain's 500 Best Pubs

By Roger Protz

Carleton Books, London, 2002

US$18.95, UK16.99

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