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History Of The World In Six Glasses Summary

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A History of the World in Six Glasses – Reaction Paper A History of the World in Six Glasses is a popular history novel written by Tom Standage. Divided into six major sections, the book explores the evolution of the world’s most famous beverages and how they impacted their respective societies. From early beers all the way to Coca-Cola, Standage intrigues the reader with this non-traditional approach to world history. Because of this unique and clever approach, the novel is extremely effective and even entertaining. Standage connects with the reader by bringing a more lighthearted approach to a sometimes dull subject. Standage begins the novel discussing the evolution of beer in Egypt and Mesopotamia. In these early times, beer was consumed …show more content…

Spirits such as rum had a much higher alcohol content than that of beer or wine. Rum was also valuable because it did not spoil like other beverages. Spirits had a downfall, however, as it was the popularization of distilled spirits that led to the Molasses and Sugar Acts, and eventually the famed Whiskey Rebellion. Coffee also played an important role in the evolution of world history. Standage tells the reader that coffee originated in the Arab world, before spreading to Europe. With coffee came coffeehouses, which served as public discussion …show more content…

As previously mentioned, Standage brings a more lighthearted approach to a sometimes dull subject. It seems as though the book was intended for a younger audience, or anyone who enjoys alcoholic beverages. For college students, this book is especially interesting because it involves something that is very much a part of everyday life on college campuses. It is obvious that Standage is very knowledgeable on the subject of history, and seeks to make the teaching of history more fun and entertaining than what the reader has most likely seen in the past. Something about the novel that was particularly brilliant was the level cultural connection the author drew between societies and the various beverages. These connections were not far-fetched in anyway. In fact, they made great sense. For example, Standage cites beer is a major reason why early civilizations changed from hunter-gatherer societies to farming/agricultural societies. Because these early civilizations needed grain to make beer, they were willing to completely change their lifestyle to supply this beverage. If that isn’t significant, I’m not sure what

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In John Standage’s book, A History of the World in Six Glasses, the history of the world is told through the history of six beverages; beer, wine, spirits, coffee, tea, and Coca Cola. The effect that each has had on the world is profound and immeasurable, however, of the six beverages, I have found that coffee has played the largest and most significant role in world history. One way that coffee affected world history is that establishments that served coffee created a social venue for members of the community to bond over various topics. Standage wrote that coffeehouses were hotspots for “gossip, rumor, political debate, and satirical discussion.”, similar to what they are in the present day. These topics led to Kha’ir Beg, ruler of Egypt, as well as his superiors worrying about coffeehouses being a popular meeting place for those wishing to overthrow the government.

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This book reveals to us how beer and wine were used for cultural, social, political, and even medical purposes. Finally, Standage shows us how civilizations grew by the spreading of beer and wine, and how the spreading of these drinks spread culture around the world. To Standage beer and wine is a technology that played huge role in the developing and advancing civilization. In the introduction, Standage states that throughout history various drinks have/had such high significance

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This could be very disappointing to most history lovers who are anticipating new knowledge and analysis, which lacks in his writing. What was disappointing is that Standage fails to include drinks from various parts around the world. If this was his intention, he should have titled the book, “A History of Western Civilization in 6 Glasses.” Standage also fails to describe the full evolution of each drink and its own personal history. When talking about beer, for example, it was discouraging that he doesn’t mention Germany like one would hope or expect to learn more about.

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