the man inside the long box was pyotr smirnov, arguably the most famous vodka maker in the world. >> so most of the information from that passage came from the newspapers that covered smirnov's funeral. when i read about that, i don't know about you but i was pretty amazed that they made such a fuss out of a vodka maker. so i really made it my mission to find out why. and i think you will find it, hopefully as fascinating as i did. one of the things about smirnov was that he was really an extraordinary marketer. when he began making his vodka in the 1860s, there were literally now since a vodka makers russia. at the time there were no protections for brands, and it wasn't like that you are going to advertise because most people were illiterate. and you couldn't really make flashy labels. that was very expensive, and smirnov didn't have the money to do that anyway. but what he did do and what he did know was his customer. he had been a serf himself. and he knew what kinds of things people responded to. so very, very early on in his career as a vodka maker, smirnov went to a place in mo

week legal affairs editor linda himelstein discusses her book the king of vodka and the life of pyotr smirnov, the creator of smirnov vodka. she talks about smirnov's ride from a lower class family to being one of the wealthiest businessmen in russia. cappers both hosted the event event. is 35 minutes. >> i just go to be here. i love this bookstore. it is just such a wonderful institution. so, the king of vodka, i get asked more than anything else why i wrote this book. and it's actually a really good question, particularly for people who know me well. the research that was required for this book was absolutely a man's. and it was mostly