THIS MONTH’S READING:A History of the World

in Six Glassesby Tom Standage

REVIEWED BY:Alison Schroeder,

Manager of Country HillsCommunity Library

For more great reading ideas, visit www.kpl.org and click on the “Books and More” tab.Want to share your own review of your favourite read? The library’s online catalogue enableslibrary card holders to write a review for any item in the collection. Simply click on the “AddReview” tab for your selected book, andwrite away!

WHAT WE’RE READING

Who knew the influence beer, wine, spirits, coffee,tea and cola have had on world history and

economies? In A History of the World in Six Glasses,Tom Standage explains the pivotal effect each ofthese drinks has had on six eras in world history. Thebook starts by recounting the accidental productionof beer when Mesopotamian hunter-gatherers beganpurposeful cultivation and storage of grains.

The storage conditions of grains was not ideal, andwater-soaked barley combined with natural airborneyeasts produced a sweet intoxicating liquid – beer!Beer, along with bread, became currency in theancient world.

The next section explains how Greeks begancommercial production of wine and how the mannerof wine consumption determined social status.Barbarians drank wine neat, while the sophisticatedelite of Greece drank wine diluted with water.

Spirits were developed during the first millenniumAD as scientists distilled liquids to isolate and purifyits constituents. When wine was distilled, it produced

a more potent alcoholic beverage that was easilytransported to the New World, where it was used asa currency in trade.

Standage also delves into the importance of coffeehouses as intellectual meeting places in theEnlightenment Era, the development of the Brit’s loveaffair with tea, and the evolution of coca- and kola-steeped wine, from a pharmaceutical wonder cureto the popular beverage it is today.

Of course, the history that Tom Standage retells ismissing many significant dates, names and places.But it is a fascinating view of the role these six drinkshave had in shaping history. Standage has a uniqueability to connect seemingly mundane events in anengaging manner that is not just a collection of trivialfacts, but a quick overview of society’s developmentfrom pre-history to present day.

Other books by Standage include The VictorianInternet, An Edible History of Humanity, The NeptuneFile, and Writing on the Wall.

A monthly column featuring great reads as suggested and reviewed by librarians from theKitchener Public Library. Follow along each month and discover your next great read!