A History Of The World In 6 Glasses Analysis

Beer, the first beverage appeared as a result of changed lifestyle for the early humans. Before, humans were nomads, who would follow their food (pg. 9). But starting about 12,000 years ago humans had picked up on a new lifestyle (pg. 9). These small bands of about 30 people were now settling down in more permanent areas and had abandoned their old ways of constantly traveling (pg. 9). This drastic turning point in human history seemed to primarily come from one reason, the discovery of beer (pg.11). As beer was basically formed from the gathering of barley and wheat, humans had to form some type of permanent residency, and abandon their old nomadic lifestyle (pg.11).

When beer was first created remains unknown, but it is known that there was no beer before 10,000 BCE and it was common in the Near East by 4,000 BCE.

There are two reoccurring themes throughout this book. The first theme is how the six drinks (beer, wine, spirits, coffee, tea, and coca-cola) have impacted the world. The second theme is that each drink has some kind of medicinal purpose. Whether the drink did not work as a medicine or it did.

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

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.

As beer started becoming a necessity, it showed the strong need for agriculture in society. People came together, to make an industry of beer, and creating civilizations.

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

1. The author’s main thesis in setting up this book is that many drinks have built and brought together human history in to what we know about it.

Beer: Beer was not invented, it was discovered. Exactly when the first beer was brewed is unknown but there was almost certainly no beer before 10,000 BCE. The rise of beer was closely associated with the domestication of the cereal grains rom which it is made and the adoption of farming. Beer originated in the Fertile Crescent in Egypt and Mesopotamia. To beer drinkers in the Neolithic period, beer’s ability to intoxicate and induce a state of altered consciousness seemed magical. This caused them to believe beer was a gift from the Gods. Since it was a gift from the gods, it was presented as a religious offering in religious ceremonies, agricultural fertility rites, and in

Tom Standage’s A History of the World in Six Glasses discusses the importance of six beverages (beer, wine, spirits, coffee, tea, Coca-Cola), each of which define distinctive periods of civilization. The comparably minor, yet crucial role of water is also represented in support of Standage’s argument regarding not only the necessity of each drink as a requisite to life, but also the role of each drink as a stimulus for cultural diffusion and development. Various historical developments, ranging from water purification to convivia, are utilized to depict each beverage’s appeal and the contributions of each drink towards its respective era of prosperity, subsequently illustrating various historical themes that mark the progression of society

Beer originated in Egypt and Mesopotamia during the Neolithic period. Beer was not so much an ‘invention’ as it was a ‘discovery.’ It was a very social drink, meaning both the rich and the poor consumed it and due to the fact it was used in many religious ceremonies. Beer was also a reason that people during the Neolithic period adopted agriculture. Some purposes for the use of beer include wages for workers. Instead of paying workers with physical money, they instead paid them with beer. Beer also proved to have many medicinal benefits.

The book talks about six drinks; beer, wine, spirits, coffee, tea and coco-cola. From the third millennium BCE to twentieth century, the drinks changed human history. Tom Standage tells how it was made, the origins, what countries the drink spreads to, and how it change human civilizations. The human civilizations changes includes agriculture, wars, and trading. Also, writing and culture changes because of these drinks. Another thing, how the brain changes under the influence of alcohol and caffeine and if it was socially accepted to go in the places where the drinks was serve. The book includes how important or famous people was affected by the drink.

The author Tom Standage says, "In both cultures Egypt and Mesopotamia, beer was a staple foodstuff without which no meal was complete. It was consumed by everyone, rich and poor, men and women, adults and children, from the top of the social pyramid to the bottom. It was truly the defining drink of these first great civilizations.” Beer was first made in the Fertile Crescent and by 3000 BC was so important to Mesopotamia and Egypt that it was being used to pay wages. Water supplies where contaminated which made beer a safer drink. Like the author said beer was really reliable, “Beer, on the other hand, could be made from cereal crops, which were abundant and could be easily stored, allowing beer to be made reliably, and in quantity, when needed.” The society switched from the hunter-gatherer lifestyle to a more settled way of life, humans came to rely on a new beverage derived from barley and wheat, the cereal grains that were the first plants to be deliberately cultivated. This drink became central to social, religious, and economic life and was the staple beverage of the earliest civilizations. The

Beer and wine might have been one of the first drinks that caused humans to civilize and create a great community. In fact Tom Standage introduces us to this idea of these early drinks shaping human culture in his book A History of a World in Six Glasses. As Standage informs us about how beer was one of the causes in early settlement, and why farming was led to a great success because of the use of beer. Standage also mentions a start in traditions and a formation of government due to these drinks. Although beer being very important, Standage also introduces us to wine as a form of a class status that helped man distinguishing barbarism to a world of high standards and manners allowing for the community to become more cultured and