A History of the World in 6 Glasses by Tom Standage (PDF)

Description

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.

User’s Reviews

Reviews from Amazon users which were colected at the time this book was published on the website:

⭐`A History of the World in 6 Glasses’ by Tom Standage is an addition to a great genre of popular non-fiction on some important, but often ignored subject in the same vein as `Robbing the Bees’ by Holley Bishop, Mark Kurlansky’s works, `Cod’ and `Salt’ and `New Yorker’ writer, Susan Orlean’s `The Orchid Thief’. In fact, like Kurlansky, Master Standage has done at least two other books in this genre to date, `The Victorian Internet’ and `The Turk’.This volume presents a part of the history of six of the world’s most important beverages, beer, wine, distilled spirits, coffee, tea, and Coca-Cola, or, more accurately American cola drinks. Each of the six essays does not cover the whole history of each beverage. It only covers the time and place in which each beverage became popular. There are many dissimilarities between the six, but there are also important similarities. The author points out that all six contain an important psychoactive ingredient. The first three contain alcohol and the second three contain caffeine. What the author notes in each essay is that each beverage was also considered or was actually an aid to health or an improvement to water as a safe beverage in that either the alcohol or the heating in the preparation of the drink, or some chemicals in the source material helped kill any bacteria in the water used to make the beverages.One of the most enjoyable aspects of this book are the connections made by the author between his primary subject and other major social and economic facts of the times in which the beverage became popular. One of the more interesting `sidebars’ are the relative fates of wine and coffee in Christian and Muslim cultures, where Christians embraced wine while Muslims, especially Arabs used coffee as a healthy substitute with almost exactly opposite effects from wine. A second interesting sidebar (and, I believe, the subject of his earlier book `The Victorian Internet’ is the influence of coffeehouses on 17th and 18th century commerce, art, and politics in London. A third interesting note is the rundown on the wines and other potables of ancient Rome. Filling in what I know about Italian drinking, I can recognize the origins, for example of grappa, made from the dregs of the wine making process.While one may have no argument with the importance of all six beverages, I can’t help wondering why the author picked Coca-Cola over hot chocolate. Part of the reason may be that the stories of chocolate and coffee are just too similar to make an interesting contrast. Also, the arrival of coffee, tea, and chocolate all happened at about the same time, so the historical contexts are very similar. I was also surprised that his story on Coca-Cola did not include the time and circumstances surrounding the removal of coca from the drink.Unlike some works on the history or husbandry of culinary subjects, there is virtually nothing in this book on `how to’. There is not one word on the chemistry of fermentation as it relates to beer, wine, or tea. There is virtually no mention of different varieties of grape and just a few statements on grape varieties and grape culture outside of ancient Greece and Rome. There is much more said about the economics of wine making and trade, just as there is much on the economics of rum, slaves and molasses, forming the three sides of the famous New England to Africa to Caribbean trading triangle active up to the Civil War.Mr. Standage has very credible credentials as a writer and editor on technical matters, but I found just a few little questions in his presentation of historical facts. The first statement which tickled my skeptical bone was the reference to the `Fertile Crescent’ as the arc from the mouth of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers to the uplands of the Nile in ancient Egypt. In my freshman history of the western world class, the `Fertile Crescent’ was described as the arc from the Persian Gulf to the Levant, basically following the course of the Tigris and Euphrates. I quickly checked my Times Atlas of Archeology that confirmed my memory from many years ago. The Nile and the growth of the Egyptian civilizations, while parallel to those that began with Akkad and Sumer were done on independent lines, with the yearly Nile flooding providing a significantly different agricultural environment than the non-flooding rivers of Mesopotamia.A second and more subtle scholarly indiscretion is in the author’s treatment of the theory of humors created by the great Greek and Roman medical thinkers such as Hippocrates and Galen. This theory posits four humors, blood, phlegm, yellow bile, and black bile and an imbalance between the four being the explanation for various diseases. The author rather intemperately describes this theory, held by thousands of medical practitioners for 2000 years as `utter nonsense’, and revealed to be so by 19th century medical research.My first thought is that the practice of bleeding with leaches was explained and justified by this theory, and I have seen recent articles stating that bleeding with leeches retains some good medical effects. This leads me to the belief that there were probably other empirically successful practices that were explained by the humors theory. It was certainly not far fetched, as at least three out of the four fluids can be seen, smelled, tasted, and acted upon within the body. I suggest the author reread his Thomas Kuhn (`The Structure of Scientific Revolutions’) to see how this weak and, by today’s standards, poorly supported theory served its purpose as the best they had at the time.In spite of these hiccups, this is a great read, even if it strays from its primary subjects now and again. And, it is properly documented with references so that if any statement strikes a chord of interest, you have the means of tracking down the author’s sources.

⭐This would not have been a book that I would have bought if it were not a kindle deal. There are at least three drinks listed that I have never even drank once (beer, wine, or hard liquor). However, I am glad that I ended up buying it and I learned a great deal about these six beverages and their place in world history. Tom Standage writes a fun and exciting book that really captivates the attention. One of the reviews called it “history light” and that is a perfect way to describe it. There is no agenda other than to illustrate the fact that there is no singular story of history but only many different histories that should be explored; at least that is what author stated in the beginning. Here are some of the reasons that I enjoyed this book.One of things I like so much about this book is the writing style of the author. For one thing, this book is fast. It is over 300 hundred pages but it seems to fly by very quickly. A book about beverages has a great potential for being boring if not handled correctly. He does not belabor moot points or milk any concepts but keeps moving from one scene to another as it were. He gets down to the major events and developments without diverging onto bunny trails. Another thing is that he is not just talking about beverages but he has a point that he comes to in each section. That point is something relevant and clear so there is no need for guessing at what he is trying to say.He begins with the most important of human beverages; water. From there he explores the roots of beer and its importance in early agricultural societies. He demonstrates that beer had a cohesive quality that brought people together. It was more than a drink, it forged social bonds and was a major staple of early human life. He moves on to show how wine came to supplant beer in a certain respect. It became a drink that ultimately ended up representing sophistication and culture. I love how he demonstrated that wine was a drink often offered to deity. Like beer before it wine was something thought to possess a mystical quality. To this day we toast one another with both beer and wine as if to invoke the magical properties that our ancestors thought them to have.He moves onto hard liquors demonstrating that it played a role in the American Revolution. The colonies love for rum and the brothels that the Sons of Liberty met in served to solidify its unique role in early American history. The next beverage was coffee and I found that one to be the most interesting. It is amazing to think of the role that coffee played in many of the intellectual developments of the enlightenment era. Coffeehouses were the places that great minds met to discuss and debate various issues. It was a coffeehouse discussion that birthed Newton’s Principe and it was on the steps of a coffeehouse that the French Revolution kicked off. Tea was also a fascinating drink to read about and it has played no small role in history. If you don’t believe it then you might ought to think about what happened in the harbor at Boston during the winter of 1773. Lastly, there was coke. It’s development has been a part of the ongoing process of globalization.Although, I am not expert on beverage history, I was not able to locate anything about the drinks that I thought was amiss. There was one statement the author made that was a little suspect. He claimed that neolithic people thought beer was magical because of its ability to alter consciousness. While that is likely I am not sure that it can be demonstrated conclusively or stated as a “matter of fact.” Neolithic people left us no reason to assert that. I think later in history that can be seen but perhaps it is leap to ascribe it to the Neolithic period. In another location he mentioned 0 C.E. That that was a major mistake as everyone knows there is no year 0! I am surprised that a historian would make that mistake and more surprised that a publisher did not catch it. He claims that Theodosius divided the Empire into east and west. Actually Diocletian had divided the Empire into four parts long before Theodosius I. These are not major except for the 0 C.E. which is kind of bad.Ultimately, while I would not have bought this book had it not been on sale I am glad that I did. It was a really fun book to read. I found it exciting and original. It is not everyday that you can pick up a book about beverages and thoroughly enjoy it. As a historian and teacher myself I plan on using some of this material in my classroom. The chapter on Coca Cola is a great way to talk about globalization and even cultural diffusion! I love the way he reined it all in talking about how people are beginning to realize how important water really is. After thousands of years we have come full circle. It was a lot of fun and it is certainly worth your time and money.

⭐A good book covering the World from a beverage perspective. I would have liked the section on spirits to have included gin and vodka for their profound effects on English and Russian society,also Prohibition,which helped to solidify lawbreaking and organized crime in the U.S.The section on Coca-Cola outlines the health risks early opponents expounded but fails to mention current concerns regarding its high sugar content(the average American gets some 11 pounds of sugar per year from its products)with inherent risks of type 2 diabetes and tooth decay ,perhaps this is a factor in America’s dismal life expectancy,51st in world rankings. Mexicans who consume 70% more have just been declared the most obese people on Earth.The final section on water mentions the bottled tap waters Aquafina and Dasani (p.168) but omits to mention they are marketed by Pepsi and Coca-Cola.The author was brave in the final section to record that Israel appropriates 82% of the occupied West Bank’s water for its own use,one reason not to expect any movement on the two-state solution.Recommended reading.

⭐Another great take on how something has changed the history of the world,in this case drinks. An excellently researched history of the origins of six of the most important created drinks in the world that reveals a whole series of really interesting facts about them. It also destroyed a good few myths I’d heard, especially about the origins of Coca-Cola. Each drink is a short history in itself so a book that can be easily dipped into if desired. If you have an enquiring mind and an interest in why and how what you are drinking was first produced, I’d greatly recommend this book as a good read.

⭐Very good quick & concise delve into some favourite drinks as they’ve influenced the development of the world.

⭐Exellent interesting and readable account of the part played by beverages in the history of the world from pre-history to the modern day.

⭐very interesting listen for a long drive

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