COOKBOOK WATCH

Philip Collins made his name producing books about the exuberantly designed radios of the 1920s and ‘30s, of which he was a pioneer collector. His latest book, “Classic Cocktails of the Prohibition Era” (General Publishing Group, $14.95), treats the cocktails of the same bravely sophisticated Art Deco age. The spirit is perfectly captured by the photo of a Fallen Angel cocktail garnished with a gallant twist of lemon and accompanied by an elegant Catalin cigarette box and a suave, faintly silly Bakelite cigarette holder.

Fifty of the book’s 100 cocktail recipes are exquisitely photographed in this way with period props. A few recipes are still faintly familiar (Pink Lady, French 75, Rob Roy) and a couple actually postdate Prohibition, such as the Kir Royale and Irish Coffee, but most are delicious excursions into the unknown land beyond retro.