"Before we took over, a friend who used to run a pub said the licensee's main problem is that he can choose his friends but not his customers. After my short time behind bars, it seems to me that the acid test of suitability is to ask yourself if you'd have a customer as a guest in your house. So far, the answer is invariably no."
In this diary of his first year running a colourful Portsmouth public house, George East records moments of hilarity panic, physical danger and near-disaster. A Year Behind Bars is a witty, thoughtful and always affectionate study of pub life and human nature. From gaining worldwide fame as the bed-busting barman to the local CID setting up a murder room in his cellar, the tale of an eventful initiation to what it's really like to run a pub makes for a fascinating read.