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A Summary of “A History of the World in Six Glasses,” by Tom Standage

A History of the World in six glasses is a historical novel by Tom Standage. The primary purpose of the book is to show the pervasive influence of various drinks on history’s course. The story takes readers on a journey through time, thus indicates the past of human beings through the lens of drinks. The thesis of the novel is that certain specialty beverages have significantly affected people in all aspects of life. In other words, these beverages have changed social views, religious ceremonies, economic facets, people’s diets, religious ceremonies and even political facets. Tom Standage the subject that he has written about and did not offer any information or any analysis that disapproves of the thesis of his novel. Standage has written three other historical books which support his information and also the research that he has provided in his book thus, his background gives the novel authority.

“A History of the World in Six Glasses,” has been divided into six main sections; and each section is for a drink. The first section is beer. This represents the first civilization of man, which was adopted after farming and domestication of cereal grains was adopted. This advancement in lifestyle led to the emergence of scribes, artisans and administrators. The beer had so many advantages to man; it nourished the first civilization of humanity, and the rations and wages of man were paid in beer and bread CITATION Sta02 l 1033 (Standage). The second section is wine. This was the second beverage that played a significant role in flourishing in both the Roman and the Greek cultures. This drink also initiated seaborne trade which spread their literature, politics and philosophy. The novel clearly shows how the above advancements came into being and how they grew in the Greek community. The Romans who also adopted the Greek culture also used wine strongly.

After the period of the middle ages, The Arab scholars led to the awakening of Europe. This was the period of Exploration or the Colonial Period, and the knowledge of distillation led to the discovery of new drinks. The novel clearly explains how some forms of condensed alcohol such as rum and brandy were popular mainly in American colonies. The forth beverage that is presented in the novel is coffee. This beverage became the drink of the intellect and was known to sharpen the mind. The fifth beverage was tea; this drink even became as England’s national drink. Tea imports from countries such as India and China led to the trade. The novel clearly explains the power of companies such as the British East India Company which greatly generated more revenue than the British government and was able to rule over more people. The final drink is Coca-Cola which was initially formulated as a medical drink. Later, the drink became the symbol of America’s consumer capitalism.

In conclusion, “A History of the World in Six Glasses,” makes it clear that man’s history is a history of human consumption. Whether people are pondering revolution in Paris or Boston, throwing tea leaves, all the above drinks have had impacts on who people are today. Tom Standage was quite successful in proving his thesis throughout his novel. As the thesis was clearly stated in the introduction it has been clearly supported in every chapter in the epilogue.

Works cited

BIBLIOGRAPHY l 1033 Standage, Tom. “A History of the World in six glasses.” (2002). 14 September 2018.