World history is a long and complex subject. Although many acclaimed authors such as Bill Bryson and H.G. Wells have attempted to summarize history in a single book, very few have succeeded. It's just too much. Attempts to condense the last 10,000 years have resulted in either superficial books with very little depth or great textbooks like the Tombs too inaccessible for the average reader.
Fortunately, The Story of the World in 6 Glasses by Tom Standage succeeds where others have failed. Standage's book does this by sacrificing the breadth of every possible subject for impressive depth and focus. Instead of trying to summarize the complete history of man, this book focuses on a single topic, in this case, drinks, and then takes the reader on a journey through time to see how his topic is intertwined with the past. Standage is a wonderful writer who mixes his easy-going style with exceptional historical savvy, not just on drinks but across the board.
Despite my now positive opinion of this book, I have to admit that when I first picked up A History of the World in 6 Glasses, I didn't expect to like it. Not only am I skeptical of any book that claims to summarize the antiquity of man in 300 pages or less, but I don't drink any of the 6 beverages this book discusses.
Learning the history of these drinks as such did not immediately sound appealing. However, I quickly learned that this book is not a history of 6 drinks, but rather, as the title suggests, a history of the world told through the story of 6 drinks.
As the book points out in the introduction, second only to air, the liquid is the most important substance for human survival. The availability of water and other drinking sources "constrains and controls human progress" and "continues to shape human history".
Drinks throughout did more than quench our thirst; they were used as currency, medicine, and religious ceremonies. They served as symbols of wealth and power, as well as tools to appease the poor and downtrodden.
A History of the World in 6 Glasses is divided into six sections, one for each beverage, the first of which is beer. The first human civilizations were based on the surplus production of cereals, much of which was cooked.
Ancient beers were high in vitamin B, a vitamin previously obtained only from meat. This allowed the population to focus their nutritional efforts increasingly on cereals, effectively starting the transition from hunter-gatherers to farmers.
Additionally, because earlier beers were boiled (to convert more starch into sugars), beer was significantly safer to drink than water. This significant improvement in lifestyle "freed a small portion of the population from the need to work in the fields and allowed for the emergence of specialized priests, administrators, scribes, and artisans." Beer not only fueled the first human civilizations but in many ways made them entirely possible.
Wine, another drink in the book, played a major role in the flourishing Greek and Roman cultures. Since wine did not originate in the Mediterranean, the Greeks' desire for the beverage opened up a vast maritime trade that spread their philosophy, politics, science, and literature far and wide, and is still the foundation of modern Western thought.
A History of the World in 6 Glasses shows how these advances originated and grew at formal Greek drinking parties called symposia. The Romans, who absorbed much of Greek culture, continued to use wine heavily. As the book notes, if you trace the wine-drinking regions of the world on a map, you'll find that you've been watching the Roman Empire at its peak.
After a thousand years of hibernation, Western civilization was awakened by the rediscovery of ancient knowledge, long protected in the Arab world. However, in an attempt to circumvent this Arab monopoly, European monarchs launched massive fleets into the sea. This age of exploration was greatly enhanced by Arab knowledge of distillation, which allowed for a whole new range of beverages. A History of the World in 6 Glasses describes how these condensed forms of alcohol (namely brandy, whiskey, and rum) were so popular, especially in the new American colonies, that they “played a key role in the formation of the United States. "
The fourth beverage mentioned in this book is coffee. Because of its sharpening effect on the mind, coffee quickly became the drink of intellect and industry. The café, which replaced taverns as a sophisticated meeting place, "led to the founding of scientific societies and financial institutions, to the founding of newspapers, and provided fertile ground for revolutionary ideas, especially in France." A History of the World in 6 Glasses goes on to recount the complex influence coffeehouses had on Victorian culture, going so far as to devote an entire chapter to what the book calls "The Coffeehouse Internet."
Although the origins of tea date back many thousands of years, it did not take hold of Western culture until the middle of the seventeenth century. Once established as England's national drink, the importation of tea, first from China and then from India, led to trade and industrialization on an unprecedented scale. A History of the World in 6 Glasses describes the immense power of the British East India Company, which "generated more revenue than the British government and ruled far more people" and wielded more power than any other corporation in history. This power imbalance had a huge, far-reaching impact on British foreign policy and ultimately contributed to the independence of the United States.
Like most of the drinks discussed in A History of the World in 6 Glasses, Coca-Cola was originally designed as a medical drink. More than any other product, Coca-Cola is a symbol of America's "living consumer capitalism." Instead of shying away from this challenge, Coca-Cola took full advantage of the challenging times it found itself in, gaining ground and then traveling alongside our soldiers into World War II to become a global phenomenon. Today, Coca-Cola still accounts for "about 30 percent of all liquid consumption," according to the book.
The history of the world in 6 glasses clearly shows that the history of mankind is the history of our consumption. Whether we're drinking "liquid bread" in Mesopotamia, contemplating revolution in a cafe in Paris, or throwing tea leaves into the ocean in Boston, these beverages have had a profound impact on who we are. As Standage says in the introduction to his book, “They survive in our homes today as living reminders of past eras, fluid testimonies to the forces that shaped the modern world. Discover their origins and you may never look at your favorite drink in quite the same way again.”
I highly recommend this book to anyone who thirsts to learn about the world around us.
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