The case of Tennessee Wine and Spirits Retailers Association v. Blair, set for argument before the U.S. Supreme Court today, gives the court and the public the chance to revisit the 21st Amendment and the country's ambivalence toward alcohol.

As one brief stated it, alcohol is “both widely enjoyed and dangerously misused. What do you do with something like that?”

A fascinating new book published in December charts that long history of ambiguity and matches it up—from the Marshall Court to the Roberts Court—to the Supreme Court's jurisprudence and drinking habits.