Tom Standages A History of the World in 6 Glasses - Book Report/Review Example

Tom Standage’s A History of the World in 6 Glasses World history as how it is usually recorded mostly comprises major events that had a profound impact on human civilization and progress. These would often be marked by natural events such as strong weather disturbances like severe cold or hot weathers, as well as man-made occurrences such as wars, discoveries, or revolutions. Tom Standage’s book with the title A History of the World in 6 Glasses also tells history through major events, but instead of using specific events or people of significance as other history books often do, he used six well-known drinks to tell the tales of how human civilization came to be and how it developed in relation to the discovery or the creation of these different drinks. In a way, Standage made history a bit more interesting by tying the past with ancient or famous drinks that still exist in the present and has taken deep roots in mankind’s taste buds and consciousness. History Retold, One Glass at a Time Standage begins his historical account of human civilization through the development of human subsistence from living in a hunter-gatherer society that typically wanders about to an affixed agricultural-based society, and relates these advancements from stone-age to the refined civilizations of the Mesopotamians and Egyptians with how beer and later on bread were discovered by accident.1The development of early agricultural methods such as soil tilling, planting, harvesting, and grain storage, up to the establishment of larger settlements with communal grain storages were described relative to how beer brewing came to become a drink tied with strong divine powers, of wealth and prosperity, of socialization, friendship and hospitality, as well as an integral part of everyday living in many people of different social strata, occupation, and even ages. Other human achievements such as writing, the use of currency, trading systems, and even the improvement of human health and nutrition through water decontamination also arose out of the importance and relevance of beer in the lives of early human agricultural societies.2As such, beer was considered to be the earliest known important alcoholic beverage with an integral part in “the daily lives of Egyptians and Mesopotamians, young and old, rich and poor”.3 As human civilizations further advanced from simple agricultural societies to the expansion of warring states and empires, so was the taste for alcoholic drinks. The introduction of wine from the Greek city-states into the rest of the world’s civilizations initiated the seemingly-eternal association of upper-class delicacy and sophistication with wine drinking, as well as the development of pottery and drinking glasses.4Intelligent discussions and the use of the word symposium as a synonym was also the product of wine drinking, and has been the custom long before the discovery of coffee. The international trading of wine from Greece and other proximate areas that have vineyards and wineries initiated the beginnings of long-voyages and trading, as well as the initiation of scientific revolutions such as the invention of distillation, most of which continued to flourish well into the ages of explorations, colonization, and unfortunately even during the numerous wars and revolutions that resulted from these ventures.5 The distillation process gradually helped wine to evolve into other products such as distilled spirits like brandy, as well as the invention of other alcoholic products sourced from sugar- or carbohydrate rich foods such as sugarcane and corn, mostly grown in the New World and other parts of Africa.6 However, the rise in the alcohol market allowed the proliferation of slavery in many regions of the world and exploitation of vast tracts of land and its people, the taxation of commodities previously deemed as waste, and in the New World, particularly in what is now known as the United States the uprising of the colonizers against England.7 Due to such circumstances, wine and spirits became symbols of oppression as these “helped to shape the modern world by helping the inhabitants of the Old World to establish themselves as rulers of the New World.”8 Similar to the circumstances surrounding the creation of distilled spirits, a relatively newer drink invented in the U.S. called Coca-Cola also made similar impressions, being both a symbol of patriotism to some of the citizens, as a symbol of oppression for others. This is because while the drink was initially franchised as a medicinal drink and later a “national drink” catering the masses, Coca-Cola’s expansion into a mass-produced product that relied on strong, mass-oriented and later patriotic advertising to out-compete all possible rivals was marketed in nearly every store across the US and later to all outside countries, in effect becoming a symbol for American capitalism.910 While the alcoholic drinks were strongly tied with negativity due to these past events, while the sugary, fizzy drink was associated both with capitalism and patriotism, liquid stimulants such as coffee and tea developed better reputations since these were drinks that inspired lines of philosophical and scientific thought in ancient East Asia and in modern Europe, respectively. In ancient China, tea was associated with enlightenment, refined thinking, and of calmness and serenity, creating elaborate tea-preparation ceremonies in reverence to the drink.11 Meanwhile, the introduction of coffee into Europe spawned the beginnings of the modern scientific revolution, facilitated by the increase in coffeehouses or cafés that allowed the discussion of fictitious ideas or gossips and of public opinions and later on of scientific ideas without the need for intoxication like in the Greek Symposium. Thus, coffeehouses became a homey place for men to experience “…a flavor of the cosmopolitan, serendipitous atmosphere… where matters both profound and trivial were discussed…”.12 Book Critique Standage was able to show various parts of the world under different eras of human civilization, alongside the establishment of each one through the perspectives of drinkers, whether they consume drinks that aim to release a person’s true yet hidden nature such as beer, wine, and other spirits derived from grapes and other fruits, drinks that invigorate the mind and stimulate it towards enlightenment such as coffee and tea, or drinks that have multiple meanings to consumers such as Coca-Cola, which symbolizes patriotism amongst the Americans, but stands as a symbol of oppressive consumerism, capitalism, and monopoly for others. However, it is rather noticeable that aside from the greater focus on Western civilizations such as the Greeks and Romans, as well as the Europeans and the U.S. (with the exemption of Mesopotamia and Egypt) there were lesser input about the evolution and importance of tea in East Asian regions. Also, the account about coffee from Africa also seems lacking, as there is less than even half a chapter discussing how coffee was treated in Africa, and how it became a better option for Islamic members. Even more surprising is the leaving out of the Central and South American civilizations and only mentioning them in part regarding the Spanish colonization through introduction of European wine, and in part due to the invention of Coca-Cola1314. In using the trends of large civilizations developing a kind of special or alcoholic drink based on available commodities as a basis, it should also be expected that these people also had drinks that may have existed until now, for example drinks made from cacao or derived from cacti, among others. If Standage was able to find evidences for the evolution of beer, it may also have been possible to do the same with the drinks in Central and South American civilizations since there are archaeological evidences of their cultures, as well as the fact that these are relatively younger than Stone-Age relics. Beyond these observations, the book itself is worth reading and very informative. As a whole, despite not being able to fully showcase all of the world’s important cultures and civilizations in their own drinks, Standage was able to make world history interesting by giving a historical significance of six of the world’s most beloved drinks relative to the great civilizations where these drinks originated from. Joining the different historical accounts of actual people and events and turning these into personalized stories of the beginnings of the different drinks made history much more interesting and at the same time increases the value of these same six drinks to the book’s readers. As such, this book will not only open the eyes of lovers or haters of these six drinks, but will also stimulate their mind to rethink history through the refinement and the continued existence of these famous drinks well into the present and possibly towards the future. Bibliography Standage, Tom. A History of the World in 6 Glasses. New York: Walker & Company, 2005. Read More