Today's traveller is always on the move. Their trips are frequent, they think globally, and they treat hotel lobbies and bars as social spaces, conducting meetings or hunkering down, for hours at a time, with their laptops. Drinking is part of these everyday rituals, and so in this context the hotel bar's role acquires an even greater significance.

Behind the Bar shines a light on 50 signature cocktails from the most iconic hotel bars across the world, appealing to tried-and-true cocktail lovers and design aficionados alike. Recipes from some of these storied properties will inspire enthusiasts to re-create timeless cocktails at home. Anecdotes supplied by barkeeps and hotel and design personalities will enliven the recipes that reveal why so many hotel bars have endured through the years or have made an impact on the modern world.

The clandestine speakeasy has been glorified countless times for its mix of sex appeal and transporting décor but the hotel bar should also be recognised for its sophistication, grandeur, or showmanship. Behind the Bar does exactly that but also transcends the cocktail crowd niche. It is just as much a book for the traveller with a strong appreciation for design as well as the fantasy-filled armchair traveller charmed by illustrations and nuggets of history.

Alia Akkam is a former editor at Hospitality Design, Organic Spa and Beverage Media magazines. She covers food, drink, travel and design, and has written for outlets including Taste, the Wall Street Journal, Four Seasons Magazine, ArchitecturalDigest.com and Vogue.com. A native New Yorker; she now lives in Budapest.