It also shows how britain and france negotiated the critical trade treaty of 1860 that opened wide the european markets in the decades before world war i going back to the seventeenth century and examining the peculiar history of anglo french military and commercial rivalry nye helps us understand why the british drink beer not wine why the portuguese sold liquor almost exclusively to . In war wine and taxes john nye debunks the myth that britain was a free trade nation during and after the industrial revolution by revealing how the british used tariffs notably on french wine as a mercantilist tool to politically weaken france and to respond to pressure from local brewers and othersthe book reveals that britain did not transform smoothly from a mercantilist state . Langleterre est devenue la premiere puissance mondiale au xixe siecle grace a sa politique commerciale liberale une fable souvent repetee mais mise a mal par les historiens. War wine and taxes the political economy of anglo french trade 1689 1900 princeton economic history of the western world nye john v c on amazoncom free shipping on qualifying offers war wine and taxes the political economy of anglo french trade 1689 1900 princeton economic history of the western world. War wine and taxes debunks the myth that britain was a free trade nation during and after the industrial revolution by revealing how the british used tariffs notably on french wine as a mercantilist tool to politically weaken france and to respond to pressure from local brewers and others