Tom Standage

An offbeat history of the world traces the story of humankind from the Stone Age to the twenty-first century from the perspective of six different drinks--beer, wine, spirits, coffee, tea, and cola--describing their pervasive influence during pivotal eras of world history, from humankind's adoption of agriculture to the advent of globalization. Reprint. 40,000 first printing.

A History of the World in 6 Glasses

Patrick Book

A little dry -- IRONY -- but a great anthropological analysis.

Sarah Sammis

While each chapter, each drink, starts of interesting, the chapters tend to drag. In the early bits there's the history it outlined clearly. The tone is conversational with some thematic puns woven in.

But there's there's also repetition. When the second location or country or era is brought in, many of the same observations are reiterated. If I were to re-read this book I wouldn't do it at the pace we had to read it (or listen to it, as we were listening to the audiobook version). Read at a more sedate pace the repeated details would be interesting on their own.

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Lewis Ngugi

Interesting how storytelling can lie to you until you believe it. Especially about tea!!!

Laura Mauler

Full disclosure: I skipped the chapters about spirits and tea because I had fairly recently read books that covered these topics, and I had no interest in rehashing those histories. Also, I skipped the chapter on soft drinks because I have zero interest in that type of beverage.

So I read about beer, wine, coffee, and of course the epilogue. And it was great! Every part was short and snappy, drawing clear lines between the beverages and the historical events; nothing seemed forced in from left field, and none of it was so detailed that I lost the narrative. It's the type of non-fiction book that you can read at the end of a long day and still find it relaxing. My favorite chapter was about coffee because the coffeehouses sound like a lot of fun. I'm going to try to track down "Penny Universities" to read more on these establishments, per the author's suggestion in the notes.

From beer to Coca-Cola, the six drinks that have helped shape human history. Throughout human history. certain drinks have done much more than just quench thirst. As Tom Standage relates with authority and charm, six of them have had a surprisingly pervasive influence on the course of history, becoming the defining drink during a pivotal historical period. A History of the World in 6 Glasses tells the story of humanity from the Stone Age to the 21st century through the lens of beer, wine, spirits, coffee, tea, and cola. Beer was first made in the Fertile Crescent and by 3000 B.C.E. was so important to Mesopotamia and Egypt that it was used to pay wages. In ancient Greece wine became the main export of her vast seaborne trade, helping spread Greek culture abroad. Spirits such as brandy and rum fueled the Age of Exploration, fortifying seamen on long voyages and oiling the pernicious slave trade. Although coffee originated in the Arab world, it stoked revolutionary thought in Europe during the Age of Reason, when coffeehouses became centers of intellectual exchange. And hundreds of years after the Chinese began drinking tea, it became especially popular in Britain, with far-reaching effects on British foreign policy. Finally, though carbonated drinks were invented in 18th-century Europe they became a 20th-century phenomenon, and Coca-Cola in particular is the leading symbol of globalization. For Tom Standage, each drink is a kind of technology, a catalyst for advancing culture by which he demonstrates the intricate interplay of different civilizations. You may never look at your favorite drink the same way again.

Janice Hopper

We listened to this book on a trip to/from the Charleston area with my in-laws. It was interesting, but slightly more than I really wanted to know about some of the drinks, especially the spirits. So many things build on the backs of slaves... :(

But the in-laws liked it, and so did my husband, so that was fine.

I kinda wish I could taste some beer brewed the neolithic way, though. :)

The New York Times Bestseller “There aren't many books this entertaining that also provide a cogent crash course in ancient, classical and modern history.” -Los Angeles Times Beer, wine, spirits, coffee, tea, and Coca-Cola: In Tom Standage's deft, innovative account of world history, these six beverages turn out to be much more than just ways to quench thirst. They also represent six eras that span the course of civilization-from the adoption of agriculture, to the birth of cities, to the advent of globalization. A History of the World in 6 Glasses tells the story of humanity from the Stone Age to the twenty-first century through each epoch's signature refreshment. As Standage persuasively argues, each drink is in fact a kind of technology, advancing culture and catalyzing the intricate interplay of different societies. After reading this enlightening book, you may never look at your favorite drink in quite the same way again.

Aaliyah Jenkins

Alexia Cambaling

It’s like a retelling of world history but based around the drinks which made our modern world like beer, wine, tea, coffee, spirits, coke, and finally in the epilogue, water. It’s presented in a very engaging way with really accessible writing which made it a breeze to read. If you’re interested in history, whether you like the drinks mentioned or not, it’s very worthwhile. It traces the history of these drinks combined with the social rules around them, how they transformed and shaped societies, and how some traditions that come from drinking carry over to the present day. Highly informative, fun, and engaging.

Ben Nathan

Very interesting. Lots of great learning about the beverages in question and about history. It's a much better and more concise book than Guns, Germs, & Steel and I would suggest it as the book of that style to read.

Whatever your favourite tipple, when you pour yourself a drink, you have the past in a glass. You can likely find them all in your own kitchen — beer, wine, spirits, coffee, tea, cola. Line them up on the counter, and there you have it: thousands of years of human history in six drinks. Tom Standage opens a window onto the past in this tour of six beverages that remain essentials today. En route he makes fascinating forays into the byways of western culture: Why were ancient Egyptians buried with beer? Why was wine considered a “classier” drink than beer by the Romans? How did rum grog help the British navy defeat Napoleon? What is the relationship between coffee and revolution? And how did Coca-Cola become the number one poster-product for globalization decades before the term was even coined?

A History of the World in 6 Glasses

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