The nature of alcohol problems is very diverse and the strategies adopted for minimising these vary even more. Thinking in the study of alcohol problems in the 1970s and early 1980s had focused on the public health perspective, seeking not only to lessen alcohol problems by controlling the availability of alcohol, but also to promote moderate drinking practices and to preserve the positive advantages of alcohol use.

Originally published in 1983, a detailed review of public health issues in this field at the time opens the book. This is followed by an examination of alcohol-related problems and policies for their control in sixteen different European countries. The chapters on individual countries provide a source of information and data on alcohol policies, consumption and problems with which it is possible to examine from a cross-cultural and comparative basis the claims of a public health perspective. The final chapter draws together the cross-national data and discusses their implications for a public health response to alcohol problems. This book should now be a historical reference source for all interested in health policy in general and alcohol problems in particular.