The History of the World in Six Glasses: Book Review In the book, A History of the World in Six Glasses, by Tom Standage, it explains world history through the six most popular and influential drinks dating back from approximately 3400 BCE to present day. Throughout human history, these six drinks have done more than just quench thirst; they have influenced the course of history from humankind’s adoption of agriculture to the advent of globalization.
Beer:
Beer was not particularly an invention, Standage says, it was more so a discovery, when it came about in the Mesopotamia society around 3400 BCE. Water was the only beverage the Mesopotamians ever knew, until they came upon a new drink derived from barley, wheat, and cereal grains. Beer had become the staple beverage of the earliest civilizations. Both rich and poor people consumed beer. It had become the center of religious, social, and economical life for the Mesopotamians. Standage claims that “[Beer] came into existence during… the switch from a nomadic to a settled lifestyle” (Standage p. 10). In this text provided, Standage infers that beer was a factor that helped the Mesopotamian society become a civilization rather than continuing on with the nomadic lifestyle, this shift led to a sudden increase in social complexity and the emergence of cities.
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The beverage brought people together and also, it changed the Mesopotamia culture radically by helping them become stationary and giving them new traditions. The author makes great points and explains how beer came to be in this section, but he cannot prove that beer was the reason why the Mesopotamians settled down. They settled down because the soil was fertile, they had two major rivers and it was located on the Fertile Crescent, making this the perfect place to start a
According to the Michael Kolkind in the essay History 489 at Berkeley the conflict over people’s park took place. According to the author it was a small space took by the local activist from the university of Berkley which failed to improve it after “demolish some houses”(5). According to the author they created a space that would bring more people to join their causes. The author describes this action the “beginning of the end of the student movement”. For the extremist activists it was a military battle against the citizen that they were supposed to defend.
A History of the World in 6 Glasses summer reading assignments 1. Tom Standage’s choice of beverages, such as beer and wine, represent the major periods of history. I find that I agree with the author’s choices after studying ancient (pre-600 BCE) and classical (600 BCE- 600 CE) history. In the beginning of the novel, beer is introduced as the beverage that improved humanity’s way of life.
Introduction In “A History of the World in 6 Glasses” by Tom Standage, the author makes the argument that certain beverages (e.g. beer, wine, spirits, coffee, tea, and cola) have shaped and affected human history. He states that by examining the processes and lengths at which the drinks were made will allow for an in depth look of certain eras in time. Many factors play a part in the course of history and beverages are an intricate part of that development. The argument that Tom Standage makes in the introduction of the book is a compelling one that although is a unique take on history it is not one that is outlandish.
Learning about history is a very vital part in the educational system in this generation. We need to learn about how history shaped us into the people we are today and what influenced us to have such decisions or actions. Tom Standage’s book ‘A History Of The World In Six Glasses’ showed a great example of how our world was shaped today! Tom Standage explains history in a very chronological, visual, and simple way. While learning about history while reading his book, I gained more information about beer, wine, spirits, coffee, tea, and coca-cola.
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.
In Tom Standage’s A History of a World in 6 Glasses(Ch. 1-4) takes on a journey to the past to reveal to us the great roles that beer and wine had on civilization. This book(Ch. 1-4) explores the time of the Stone age to the periods before and after the Roman Empire.
In A History of the World in 6 Glasses by Tom Standage, the similarities and differences in the economic and political role of drinks such as spirits and coffee between the Colonial Period and the Age of Reason are presented. Economic similarities between these periods include that spirits and coffee were agriculturally produced and traded between areas for items and that both of these drinks slowly promoted the growth of capitalism. An economic difference is a trade of spirits being used as slave currency and encouraging slavery while coffee promoted equality between different economic classes. Political similarities include spirits and coffee shifting political power and the drinks’ role in challenging the government. A political difference
Over the course of human history a few major drinks have helped shape political, social, and economic aspects in countries and cities around the world. These drinks, described in the book A History of the World in 6 Glasses by Tom Standage, are beer, wine, spirits, coffee, tea, and cola. All six of these drinks provided a safer alternative to water which at some times was not always clean enough for consumption. They sparked cultural changes in the countries that produced and consumed these drinks. Their are two drink in particular that changed the world in numerous ways.
A History of the World in Six Glasses, by Tom Standage, tells how drinks shaped our history. There are 6 major drinks: beer, wine, spirits, coffee, tea, and cola. As the drinks changed, the culture changed with them. Each drink defined the culture in that time period. In the opinion of this student, beer is the most important because it led to writing, the first settlements, money, and medicine while spirits only had bad influences.
Population in ancient Babylon was growing, moving more people to cities to create a society. The rise of population created the advancement in agricultural technology. Agriculture depends on soil conditions, temperature and availability of water. Because water was easiest to manipulate, people were using the rivers and plains to create irrigation systems. As these agricultural technologies were advancing, communities were able to produce enough surplus to provide large populations.
Overall, A History of the World in 6 Glasses by Tom Standage is a relatively small but interesting historical read. It brings light to the importance and influence that these drinks had on so many aspects of civilization. They helped spread religion, trade, technology, exploration, and numerous significant events that help define our world as we know it
“A History of the World in 6 Glasses,” by Tom Standage gives the detailed history of 6 drinks that changed the world. These drinks include beer, wine, spirits, coffee, tea, and Coca-Cola. The drink I found the most interesting and appealing was tea. The history of tea appealed to me the most because of how it dramatically influenced culture, trade, geography, and society in China, India, Britain, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, America, and many more counties around the world. Tea has affected religions, societies, economies, and politics from areas in Japan to America.
Throughout human history, many different things affected culture and history as a whole. From laws, to inventions, to technological advancements. One thing most people do not consider to be part of this list is drinks. In the book “A History of the World in 6 Glasses” by Tom Standage, six different drinks that heavily affected world history are discussed and analyzed. Beer and wine had an extensive effect on the world, but coffee is, without question, the most influential of the three.
Article Response: Java Man Malcolm Gladwell presents a description of the progression of caffeine, particularly in the Western culture in order to show the impact of caffeine in the world. Through initiating and presenting a description of the operation of Coca-Cola, Gladwell proceeds to capture the attention of the reader since most readers are familiar with the product. Moreover, Gladwell proceeds to dismiss the commercial artist referred to as Haddon Sundblom, including the scheme that was employed to enhance the popularity of Coke through the creation of caffeine for children. It is imperative to note that this initiative enhanced the popularity of Coke and made it a household beverage.
Nowadays, most people, including doctors, say that having a glass of red wine daily is a healthy habit. This modern view of alcohol is quite different from the views of the majority of people in the early 1900s. What is now known as “the noble experiment” shows the varying extremes of peoples’ opinion of alcohol during this time. Although people had good reasons to promote prohibition, there ultimately were unintended consequences that weren’t foreseen.