A History Of The World In Six Glasses Summary

Only one thing matters more than a liquid refreshment, getting a fresh breath of air. But liquids, unlike air, are more than just necessities for life. A simple drink that was used just to quench a thirst had the possibilities of being a political stimulant, economic sparker, and a cultural infuser. Tom Standage decides to magnify the microscopic drops of history that had seemed to slip our minds so easily as just a thirst quencher. Whenever someone picks up a nice cold glass of one of these drinks, they should know the history of it.

George Washington, a whiskey distiller himself, thought that distilled spirits were “the ruin of half the workmen in the country….” John Adams, whose daily breakfast included a tankard of hard cider, asked, “….is it not mortifying…. That we, Americans, should exceed all other …. People in the world in this degrading, beastly vice of intemperance?” and Thomas Jefferson, inventor of the presidential cocktail party, feared that the use of cheap, raw whisky was “spreading through the mass of our citizens (Rorabaugh 5).” Drinking was the culture of the American people. During this time “white males taught to drink as children, even as babies. “I have frequently seen fathers” wrote on traveler, “wake their Child of a year old from sleep to make it drink Rum, or Brandy (Rarabaugh 14). This is fascinating for me, because the people were crazy by allowing their teens including babies to drink alcohol. What more interesting is that fathers want their adults of 14 or more to go tavern with

Each drink has changed the world in many ways (good or bad). Starting with beer, beer steered people out of the hunting and gathering way of life into the agricultural lifestyle. People grew grains in order to make beer, but eventually in gave the people the idea that can also grow more crops instead of just grain. "Beer drinking was one of the many factors that helped tip the balance away from hunting and gathering and towards farming and sedentary lifestyle based on small settlements". Beer was also safer to drink than water because water was mostly contaminated. In the Stone Age, beer became the main drink, and it is still a popular drink today.

A) Unlike alcohol’s intoxicating effect, which made people sleepy and dulled their minds, coffee woke people up and made scientists, clerks, merchants and other businessmen more alert throughout the long workday. Coffeehouses also became places for people to exchange and listen to new ideas and theories in areas such as natural history, chemistry,

The author wants to show that beverages had a great impact on history. He wants to tell his

In reading a Little History of the World by E.H. Gombrich you realize that history seems so much less complicated when you are the one standing back and reflecting on the past. You realize how easy it is to often forget that every single new idea, religion and war was a struggle that lasted generations upon generations. History is more than just a page or a story, its our account of the world. That goes to show how short life and history is, you realize that history is always repeating, war after war, peace then war. There are good and bad periods in history and its up to us to learn from them. In a way history is much like a human being it goes through stages, learns about life, and has inner struggles or wars about their ideas and their beliefs.

When the Americas were just beginning to form, spirits accelerated their colonialism. At first, sugarcane production was introduced to the Western Indies or Caribbean Islands by Christopher Columbus. The West Indies land was not suitable to grow wine vines or grains for beer, instead Columbus introduced sugar canes to the Indies, creating a major sugar plantation in the West

A History of the World in 6 Glasses by Tom Standage is a non-fiction historical novel, whose main purpose is to show the surprisingly pervasive influence of certain drinks on the course of history. Then it takes the reader on a journey through time to show the history of mankind through the lens of beverages.

1. From which advanced civilization/culture did Europeans get the “science” of how to make spirits?

Drinking is another item that is symbolized in the story. The drinks that the American

People used wine to show that they are successful and have a higher social status ranking than others, leaving the ones who weren't wealthy and unsuccessful without wine. This began the first socially/economically divided empires. It was used in religious ceremonies, and used medicinally to heal wounds.

Beer started out as gruel, and as the gruel fermented it turned into beer. Now it was not the first form of alcohol, but it was an important kind of alcohol. Beer was made from cereal crops, which were very abundant, and because it was so abundant it could be made whenever it was needed. They then found an even easier way to make beer by using beer-bread. Beer bread is basically everything needed to make beer in a loaf, making it convenient to store the raw beer materials. Beer started as just a social drink but then blossomed into a “hallmark of civilization”, as seen by the Mesopotamians. Grain was the basis of the national diet, it was

This book takes place around the time of 10,000 BCE to modern times. While reading you learn about three caffeinated and three alcoholic beverages that has shaped the world throughout history. The first one of these drinks is beer in Mesopotamia and Egypt in 10,000 BCE. Then Wine in Greece and Rome starting at around 9,000 BCE. Followed by spirits in the 1300s, taking place in The West Indies, Africa, Europe, and the Colonies. After comes coffee in Mecca, Europe, and Cairo taking place in the sixteenth century. Tea follows coffee taking place in the sixth century and affecting China, The West Indies, Portugal, Korea, Japan, India, Europe and the Colonies. The last of the Six is Coca Cola starting in 1767

The Romans drank a lot of wine but not straight or quickly. “Diluting wine and drinking with restraint were ordinary courtesy. The purpose of a dinner party was relaxed

Beer is one of the oldest alcoholic drinks and has played a role in human history for roughly 8,000 years. Beer is the alcoholic beverage of choice in North America and many other parts around the world. It has shaped the culture of human civilization, social interaction and has had a significant contribution to our economy. In order to get a proper perspective on beer you have to look at three main periods; ancient history (the development period), modernization of beer and its effects, and what role beer plays today and where it is going.