Pete Brown takes his beer very seriously-he's the author of three best-selling social histories based around beer, and his latest book, Shakespeare's Local, examines 6 centuries of history seen through one extraordinary pub. Prepare to hear the dirt on Dickens, Chaucer, Scoundrels, Scallywags, Sugababes and a lock-in involving Princess Margaret. Pete put down his pint long enough to tell us a bit about pubs; past, present and future.

RR: Your book explores the history of The George pub and it's patrons- how different would it have been back in Chaucer's day?

PB: Very different and very similar! The pub would have been one big wooden hall, and upstairs there would have been one common dormitory, where people slept on filthy straw made as comfortable as possible with their cloaks. It would have served meat and bread, and ale and wine. It would have been very smoky and bustling. But the role it played - the meeting of different people, the hospitality it offered, and, I'd like to think, the atmosphere, would have been very familiar.

RR: Why do you think pubs evolved to be such an essential part of British communities?

PB: There are about five or six answers to that question and I'd hate to have to pick one as the most important - I'd almost certainly be wrong! I think it's a combination of the climate, our reticence when it comes to meeting people, the way our communities evolved and how they were run, being the first industrialised nation, brewing the best beer in the world, and realising what a good idea we'd stumbled across!

RR: Pubs have struggled to keep customers with enforced closing times, smoking regulations and hikes in the price of booze itself- do you think they're an endangered species?

PB:Not an endangered species, no. When you look at the survival of the George against everything it's had to contend with, it's miraculous. But it happened because pubs are adaptable. The best ones change to reflect society and its needs. We've been experiencing a steady decline in the number of pubs we need since about 1870, and that will go on. But we need the pub, even if we don't need as many of them, and we always will. It's a tragedy how many pubs are closing right now - but I can just as easily point to new openings where they're having trouble ordering enough beer to keep up with demand.

RR: How do you see The George in 2062?

PB: Hopefully very similar to how it is now - a working boozer that caters to its clientele, that wears its history proudly but lightly

RR: If you could have had a pint with any historical figure, who would it be and why?

PB: George Orwell. He's the best writer on pubs I've ever read. His essay Moon Under Water says more about the perfect pub in a thousand words than my first book, Man Walks into a Pub, says in 100,000.

RR: With it being such a speciality of yours, have you ever been tempted to open your own drinking establishment? What would it be like if you did: traditional, sawdust-on-the-floor job or upmarket gastro-pub?

PB: Many times - I have at least three half-written business plans on my laptop, and when I see a failing pub I find it very easy - as everyone does - to pontificate about what you would do to turn it around. The style of pub would be totally dependent on what it was and where it was. I used to book bands at university, and was successful because I booked the ones that would work for the location and the potential audience rather than the ones I liked. But while it's tempting, and while I do have a bit of a business brain, I don't possess all the skills you'd need to run a good pub. And I wouldn't have time to write any more!

RR: What are your favourite places, other than The George, to enjoy a pint in London?

PB: Generally, you can't go wrong in Southwark more broadly or Clerkenwell as places for a great pub crawl. My two locals (I'm a bigamist) are the White Hart and the Jolly Butchers in Stoke Newington. But the pubs I admire most for getting what a great pub should be all about in the 21st century are the Southampton Arms in Kentish Town and the Cock in Hackney - which are owned and run by the same people!

Pete Brown will be bringing his book Shakespeare's Local 'home' to The George on 4th December- and we have 4 copies of the book to be won- details here.