Lager Library: The Histories and Stories of the Best Bars of New York

Did you ever wonder about the Prohibition history of New York's famed 21 Club? How about the origins of the legendary McSorley's Old Ale House? What about the power broker gathering spot at the Waldorf-Astoria, the Bull & Bear?

Then you need to get a copy of The History and Stories of the Best Bars of New York ((216 pgs., $37.95) by Jef Klein with photographs by Cary Hazlegrove.

The book is loaded with black and white photographs of many of the most famous spots for throwing back a drink in New York City.It also tells the stories of the people who run these famous watering holes. Some, like Bemelmans Bar at the Carlyle Hotel are pretty famous. Others, like the Bridge Cafe near South Street Seaport or the P&G Cafe on the Upper West Side, would be easy to miss unless you were a local.

You could plan a drinking holiday in New York using the book, but even if you don't plan to travel to the Big Apple it is a nice catalog of places that are historic slices of the city's past.