A History of the World in Six Glasses by Tom Standage

Spirits such as brandy and rum fueled the Age of Exploration, fortifying seamen on long voyages and oiling the pernicious slave trade.

In ancient Greece wine became the main export of her vast seaborne trade, helping spread Greek culture abroad. was so important to Mesopotamia and Egypt that it was used to pay wages. This book tells the story of humanity from the Stone Age to the 21st century through the lens of beer, wine, spirits, coffee, tea, and colaīeer was first made in the Fertile Crescent and by 3000 B.C.E. 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. certain drinks have done much more than just quench thirst. Includes bibliographical references (pages 291-299) and indexīeer in Mesopotamia and Egypt: Stone-age brew - Civilized beer - Wine in Greece and Rome: The delight of wine - The imperial vine - Spirits in the colonial period: High spirits, high seas - The drinks that built America - Coffee in the age of reason: the great soberer - The coffeehouse internet - Tea and the British Empire: Empires of tea - Tea power - Coca-cola and the rise of America: From soda to cola - Globalization in a bottleįrom beer to Coca-Cola, the six drinks that have helped shape human history.

A History of the World in Six Glasses by Tom Standage