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A History of the World in 6 Glasses
Walker Publishing Company Product Details - Ratings and reviews for a history of the world in 6 glasses. |
Product Description
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.
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A History of the World in 6 Glasses
- Paperback: 311 pages (2006-05-16)
- Publisher: Walker Publishing Company; 2006-05-16
- Label: Walker Publishing Company
- Studio: Walker Publishing Company
- ISBN: 0802715524
- Average Customer Review:
 based on 53 reviews
- Sales Rank in Books: #6618
Avg. Customer Review:
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:
Customer Rating: 
Summary: Very informative and interesting 2008-12-20
Comment: An interesting history of the world told by exploring the various beverages humankind drinks. informative and entertaining a must read.
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:
Customer Rating: 
Summary: slow and nothing new 2008-12-16
Comment: I thought that the book moved rather slowly and didn't really provide a whole lot of information or insight. I expected a bit more of why the individual drinks played a role, instead of just the fact that they did.
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:
Customer Rating:
Summary: product in great condition..arrived quickly 2008-12-15
Comment: this was a book we needed for a school project and we got it right on time..
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:
Customer Rating: 
Summary: AP World History Review: A New Perspective on History 2008-12-10
Comment: After reading A History of the World in 6 Glasses, an approving review is necessary. Tom Standage does an excellent job teaching his audience the entire history of the world as we know it in an engaging fashion. Standage knows his facts and organizes them well under the 6 beverages of history. He divides the history through the perspective of "drink empires"- the civilizations that centered their culture on the drink of that era- beer, wine, spirits, coffee, tea, and Coca- Cola. Standage not only talks about how a drink was originally made, but about the reactions of the people and the culture that followed, as well as the impact that specific culture on other regions. His book is enjoyable and puts a new and interesting way of seeing history on to the table.
A History of the World in 6 Glasses is suitable for anyone who is in need of an enlightening version of world history. It is a well written and entertaining book that commemorates different societies who developed according to the beverage they drank. This read is a smart way to learn more things about ancient, classical, and modern history- more than politics and war, but culture as it depended on common drinks. Tom Standage's work is definitely worth checking out.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
Customer Rating:
Summary: World History Through a Few Beverages 2008-10-31
Comment: If you have never enjoyed reading history, this book may change that. But be forewarned, as you read this book, you may develop a thirst for the beverages that are being discussed.
Contents:
Introduction
Chapter 1: A Stone-Age Brew
Chapter 2: Civilized Beer
Chapter 3: The Delight of Wine
Chapter 4: The Imperial Vine
Chapter 5: High Spirits, High Seas
Chapter 6: The Drinks That Built America
Chapter 7: The Great Soberer
Chapter 8: The Coffeehouse Internet
Chapter 9: Empires of Tea
Chapter 10: Tea Power
Chapter 11: From Soda to Cola
Chapter 12: Globalization in a Bottle
Epilogue: Back to the Source
Acknowledgements
Appendix
In A History of the World in Six Glasses, Tom Standage traces world history using six beverages; beer, wine, spirits, coffee, tea, and cola. The Epilogue adds one more to the list: Water. With each drink, Standage explains why and how it came to be, what was happening regionally or globally, and how the drink influenced civilization. Wine is a good example. Early in its development, it was only available in very specific regions. As such, key wine making areas were favorites of kings and sometimes the focus of wars or territory disputes. Finally, to see the vine make its way around the known world is a fascinating trip. Another fact shared by most of the beverages; in the days of cholera and other water born illnesses, drinking beer, wine, coffee, or tea were a good way to remain alive.
You have to commend Standage for this book: it is one of the most unique views of world history. Whether your favorite drink is beer, wine, rum, or water, you are presented with the history of the drink and an excellent tour of the past. In addition, you should go away with an appreciation for all of the beverages as well as an excellent understanding of how these drinks influenced world politics (some of which are still with us). Because Standage uses familiar beverages, you can't help but be drawn into the history of the world. Some chapters are more interesting than others, primarily because your favorite drink isn't central to the chapter. But regardless, you learn something about a particular time in history, using a cup of coffee, a pint of beer, or shot of whiskey. Another benefit of this book - you will have plenty of anecdotes to tell your friends over a beer, a cup of coffee, or a Coke. As an example, look at whiskey. The original phrase for distilled spirits was aqua vitae, or "water of life." The Gaelic for aqua vitae is uisge beatha, which is the origin of the word whiskey. You may think that you are simply having a drink, but you are really consuming history.
This is a fun, informative book and highly recommended.
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A History of the World in 6 Glasses
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