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A History of the World in 6 Glasses
Tom Standage
From beer to Coca-Cola, the six drinks that have helped shape human history
Walker & Company
May 2006
311 pages
ISBN: 0802715524
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Non-Fiction
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.
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