this is a great read for someone who wants global *western history in a pint size glass (pun intended).

it’s definitely very short, concise, & overall pretty broad considering the scope of time/land the book covers. if you don’t know much about world history, this is good to dip your toes in major themes surrounding it, centered around the drinks enjoyed by people.

however, as someone with a history degree this did not provide very much info I did not already know so it wasn’t super fruitful for me.

I also really wish it talked about a lot more different cultures & their own beverages. it was almost entirely focused on the western world and when other countries were mentioned, it was quickly overshadowed by their conquest from europe/america. would have been nice to learn about the different varieties of these beverages in latin america, africa, etc. again, very surface level (western) world history that would be good for a beginner but certainly not as valuable as it could have been.

I enjoy history. I enjoy libations. Standage combines them both to wield a fascinating book on how 6 distinct beverages helped to shape and, at times, even define a time-period. From the Neolithic period and how the Mesopotamians stumbled into making beer, to the Industrial Revolution and the rise of Coca-Cola, it impresses the idea that beverages were not simply for enjoyment but were often catalysts of change in our society and in global influence.

جالب بود، از بچگی عاشق این بودم که بدونم هر چیزی چطور و چرا درست شده و استفاده شده

I would probably not have picked this book to read if it were up to me, because I tend to prefer books that go a bit more in-depth on a topic. After all, I read an entire book about one kind of fish (Cod: A Biography of the Fish that Changed the World). This was the holiday read for my in-person international book club, so I was able to breeze through it over the holidays.

The author gives a brief overview of the history of six beverages - beer, wine, spirits, coffee, tea, and... Coca-Cola. Yeah, the last one was a surprise to me too. I would have expected chocolate or water. He includes a bit about water in the wrap-up, but not really what you would expect.

I did learn some surprising things. Beer and the discovery of fermented grains may have been a driving force behind moving away from hunter-gatherer society and toward cultivation. They know exactly what kind of wine Julius Caesar drank, and what type would have been on the sponge raised up to Jesus during the crucifixion (those Romans and their records!).

The author does a decent job of research although every once in a while he surprises the reader with an overly strong opinion about something. He does NOT APPRECIATE drug addiction or using drugs to control people, and said so in situations about the opium trade (related to tea). I remember that moment because it didn't match the tone of the rest of the book, which I would call popular scholarship.

Where has this book for the last decade having not been read by me? I'm so grateful for a social studies teacher's recommendation as I haven't heard of it but was completely fascinated by the concept of the book and the story itself. Essentially vignettes that focus on six drinks and how the world: religion, politics, science, economics, and socialization changed as a result of their discovery or innovation.

I liked that this book was straightforward in its storytelling, using a basic explanation of the politics so that even someone like me can understand it and the drink's impact on that political conversation. Obviously I have my particular favorites (beer and tea) but there was so much enriching information about locations and countries in all of them and how things like coffeehouses evolved and essentially became post offices and intellectual exchanges. Symposiums and wine? Peace treaties and Pepsi.

Just a fascinating peak behind the curtain using something as (sometimes thought to be) innocuous but the elixir of life! Plus I liked how he had it come full circle because it is so true (even more true than it was written 12ish years ago) that water is now the topic of most conversations.

I love books that take a different way of looking at a common subject, or something you think you know, and make you look at it a different way. And that's what Mr. Standage has done here. Instead of looking at world history through political events or from a certain country's view we see how the creation and evolution of six drinks had an impact on world history. We start with beer in the age of ancient Egyptians, move to wine in the age of Classic Greece, then on to the development of distilled spirits in western Europe during the age of exploration and colonization. After that we move to non-alcoholic drinks, starting with coffee's development in the Arabian countries and the impact it had once it reached England and France, on to Tea and how the English appropriated it from the Chinese and used the trade to control China and India, and finally on to Coke, and how it became the ubiquitous "All-American" brand that it is today.

In book club we all found the book a little uneven, but what is interesting is that we were all speaking of different chapters. For me, I was most intrigued by the audacity of the British Empire's actions in China during the tea chapter. It is a pretty approachable history, over all. Though I wouldn't suggest the audio book; the reader was truly terrible.
3.5 Stars

چقد سبک روایتش رو دوست داشتم.
منتظرم یه موقعیت پیش بیاد که بتونم به یکی بگم: میدونستی همین آبجو باعث شد ما دست از کوچ کردن برداریم؟

تاریخ جهان در شش لیوان (که به فارسی ترجمه نشده است)، تام استندیج

هزاران سال تنها چیزی که بشر داشت آب بود. اما در عرض این ده هزاران سال گذشته قصه کاملا عوض شده است و این نوشیدنی‌های جدید نه صرفا برای مزه‌یشان، که بیشتر به دلایل اقصادی و اجتماعی فراگیر شدند و از طرف دیگر خودشان هم تاثیرات این‌چنینی داشتند. این شش نوشیدنی:
آبجو
واین یا شراب
مشروب یا اس
قهوه
چای
سودا(در ادامه کوکاکولا)

A History of the World in 6 Glasses (2006) is a look at human history through an unusual lens: our favorite drinks. These blinks outline the global rise of beer, wine, alcoholic spirits, tea, coffee and soda, and how they each played into major historical developments as they spread around the world.
from blinkist

اسم کتاب تاریخ جهان در شش لیوان هستش،به طور کلی کتاب جالبی بود واسم چون همیشه تاریخ و اینجور قبیل داستانات و در بافت توام با جنگ و کشت و کشتار میخوندم ولی این کتاب در قالبی زیرکانه و تنها با معرفی شش نوع نوشیدنی چیز هایی رو گفت که هیچ وقت راجع بهشون حتی فکر هم نکرده بودم!حتی یکسری رخداد ها و تغییراتی که باعث دگرگونی خیلی کشور ها شده ب��دن هم وابسته به همین شش نوع نوشیدنی بود و این خیلی عجیب بود برام...بنابراین فکر میکنم که خیلی کتاب جالبی بود و به یکبار خوندنش واقعا می ارزه:/

This was a great book. If you're interested in history and beverages I highly recommend it to you.

It explores world history from the point of view of the discovery and consumption of several key beverages: beer, wine, rum, coffee, tea and cola.

I learned a lot. My favorite chapters were the ones about coffee.

I recommend it, specially in audiobook format.

You wouldn’t think a book about beverages would be fascinating but you’d be wrong. What we drink and why we drink it and how we drink it has shaped cultures and societies from the beginning of mankind. Owing to the fact that water isn’t always accessible or fresh, humans have happened onto other ways to hydrate themselves. And it just so happens that many of these drinks have properties that help make the hard life of our existences a little more palatable. A thorough study of this by Standage makes for a very good read.

این کتاب تاریخچه‌ی ۶ تا از پرطرفدارترین نوشیدنی‌های جهان یعنی چای، قهوه، سودا، آبجو، واین و نوشیدنی‌های الکلی رو بررسی می‌کنه.

جالبه از این لحاظ که این نوشیدنی‌ها تونستن رو مسیر تاریخ اثرگذار باشن و گاهی حتی تعیین‌کننده‌ی سطح اجتماعی آدما باشن.

خلاصه‌ش رو توی بی‌پلاس گوش دادم. اگرچه برام جالب بود اما این‌جوری هم نیست که بخوام کتاب رو کامل بخونم.