A History of the World in 6 Glasses

This book fascinated me, and I couldn't stop reading it. The premise of telling world history through six beverages is clever and it is well executed here. I highly recommend this to anyone interested in history or any of the six beverages discussed herein (beer, wine, spirits, coffee, tea, and cola).

I liked this even more than Standage's "The Victorian Internet" (which I also enjoyed immensely).

The book is quite unique and the approach to looking at historical periods based on an important drink of the time is very creative. I enjoyed how much detail the book went into its stories. Overall the book is great, educational and entertaining.

I very much enjoyed this book about beverage history. It is well written and fun to read. The age of enlightenment really started when people weren't drinking beer from the moment they were awake...go figure!

This was required reading for school. It is a wonderful book. I enjoyed reading it after my kiddos. It is very informative, easy to read, and I found it entertaining as well - it held my attention. Its almost like a trivia type book, lots of interesting facts and the writer writes it in such a way it is not boring.

No cons, it would be a good read for anyone.

I enjoy reading "nonstandard" kinds of books so when I saw this title I knew I had to have it. I was not disappointed. Standage weaves a short narrative on the development of civilization based on our beverages. He makes history all that much more interesting. Read it, you will enjoy it.

This is certainly no dry historical schoolar text to be afraid of. Its written in a fun and very readable manner. I have learnt interresting facts and contexts I didn't know about. Sometimes its useful to look at things from a different angle. Thanks for the book, I enjoyed it.

Totally enjoyed the trip through history with the 6 chapters of this book. Written in a way that was easy to read and giving special emphasis to being able to interpret history with a new slant. I was particularly fascinated with the chapters on beer, spirits and coffee. I was a little disappointed with the chapter regarding tea especially since the author was so good at demostrating how each one of these phases in history were brought into being. I felt this chapter glossed over the "how" just a little too quickly. I would strongly recommend this book for anyone who likes history or enjoys interpreting history with new eyes.

For the novice, this book may elicit some interest in history through an entertaining look at drinks we are all familiar with. For those who have studied history, it is a bit superficial, but entertaining, with a few unexpected twists.

Nice summer reading with a "cup" of your choice.

Given to me for Christmas by my older daughter it was snatched away by my younger daughter when she was a senior at Penn. I never had a chance to read it. And despite all the junk she left at my house when she moved to Nicaragua I couldn't find it. So I bought it for my Kindle when there was a special. It is so interesting--a new way to look at motivations in history. I cannot recommend it highly enough. I don't want to stop reading it but life--work, husband, house--get in the way.

This is a very readable, but concise, history built around the construct of 6 beverages.

Four stars, as some of the history seemed forced to fit the framework of the six glasses.

It was an enjoyable read, particularly for the casual history reader.

The book might interest a person with very limited to no knowledge of world history and American history. The book is about the impact of various drinks in shaping societies and economies. Nothing earthshaking in the narrative.

This engaging journey through 6000 years of history is enlightening, engaging and entertaining. The mostly successful strategy to avoid bias-cultural, socio economic, ethnic-helps ensure this is an examination of human history on a broad scale.

This is a very interesting read, who would have known the essence of drink would attribute to how we have evolved and yet centuries later we are drinking to the same reasons and not even knowing why until this book came along.Thank you, now I will tip one to the author.

This books gives you a newer prospective of the world and how drinks came to be. It encourages people to have perseverance in everything they put their mind to. Whether it is observing different concoctions of beverages or finding out that the medicine you accidentally made had a great impact on American society, there are many voices to be heard. I'm doing a project for world history. I enjoy this book because it is not education as l but entertaining!

A very informative book that discusses how these six drinks shaped the world we live in. These drinks, that we consume everyday, have had such an impact on our lives and most of don't appreciate that. Heck, most of us don't even know that. You will learn a lot from this book and also will want to drink each drink as you read through their history.

This is certainly a unique and entertaining way to learn about the world. It was fun to read that beer was not invented BUT discovered. As stated in the book, "Fermentation and civilization was inseparable." The origin of each of the 6 drinks was so interesting. The historical perspective and significance of each on the world was surprising. It was fun to read and I eagerly awaiting the next drink!

A friend of mine recommended this book which I purchased for myself on Kindle. I enjoyed it and subsequently bought it as a birthday gift. This book is an entertaining way to learn some world history and the beverages associated with various time periods.

My daughter bought it and really liked the book. It was for a class project, and she was relieved that she enjoyed the book. She even talked to us about it as she was reading, so I knew it captured her attention.

This was a fun ride through history with my favorite drinks. Now I don't sit down with a whiskey, beer or even my morning cup of life..er..coffee without thinking about how it got us to where we are and made my life what it is.

If you like collecting historical stories and trivia to share at parties or if you just like to know yourself, this is a great book. Every drink I take of beer, wine, spirits, coffee, tea, or Coke has whole new meaning. This book reminds me a lot of Jared Diamond's "Guns, Germs, and Steel" but without the arrogance. Of course, it is also not quite as comprehensive either.

PCG
Shoreline, WA

History can be a painful subject (for me, at least), which usually centers around specific figures and specific dates. It's more of an exercise in rote memorization than an understanding of concepts. Mr. Standage accomplishes an impressive feat by spanning wide portions of history by not getting stuck in the weeds. Our author spends his time talking about the circumstances that precipitated his focus beverages and then the ripples those left in society.

It relies on a basic understanding of history, I think, to appreciate what he's doing. To me, this book is like a bolt of lightning against a backdrop of a historical timeline. As a whole, there's a bolt and it's going somewhere. In the details is the branching, not always relevant to the story but beautiful all the same. We somehow zip across a couple thousand years of the impact of varying beverages and touch on quite a few countries and cultures. The author steers clear of the self-importance of claiming that those beverages were keystones, but points out their subtle importance in a few places.

Really enjoyable book full of great history regarding what we drink and why. If you are into any of the drinks covered (beer, wine, rum, coffee, tea, or coca cola) you will enjoy it and learn a great deal.

This book shares an interesting perspective on history, and how what we drink might have influenced our society. It is fascinating to note that coffee drinking has been closely parallel with the age of enlightenment. The interesting facts introduced in this book would make for a great conversation next time you are sharing a drink with friends.

It is a very interesting book. I enjoyed learning when and where the different drinks came from, how they came to exist. It didn't seem to slow down at all as some books do. If you want to know all about the origins of beer, wine, etc. then this is the book for you.