"Standage's bright idea really is bright: a book that divides world history into beer, wine, spirits, coffee, tea and Coca-Cola Ages. His book is loaded with the kind of data that get talked about at the figurative water cooler . . . Incisive, illuminating and swift." - Janet Maslin, New York Times

"A zippy narrative . . . [Standage] uses something mundane and everyday to tell vivid and accessible stories about the changing textures of human life." - Steven Shapin, The New Yorker

"Tom Standage's highly enjoyable chronicle of six beverages that have shaped human destiny is as refreshing as a cool glass of beer on a hot day and as stimulating as that first cup of coffee in the morning . . . There aren't many books this entertaining that also provide a cogent crash course in ancient, classical and modern history . . . In breezy, but unfailingly intelligent prose . . . the author underpins provocative cultural commentary with solid economic and political information." - Wendy Smith, Los Angeles Times

"Spirited arguments―mixed with more than a splash of historical evidence―present a cogent case for how civilization has evolved through millennia of sippage . . . Standage stirs up a fun and engaging romp without spilling a drop." - Wired

Throughout human history, certain drinks have done much more than just quench thirst. As Tom Standage relates with authority and charm, six of them have had a surprisingly pervasive influence on the course of history, becoming the defining drink during a pivotal historical period.

A History of the World in 6 Glasses tells the story of humanity from the Stone Age to the 21st century through the lens of beer, wine, spirits, coffee, tea, and cola. Beer was first made in the Fertile Crescent and by 3000 B.C.E. was so important to Mesopotamia and Egypt that it was used to pay wages. In ancient Greece wine became the main export of her vast seaborne trade, helping spread Greek culture abroad. Spirits such as brandy and rum fueled the Age of Exploration, fortifying seamen on long voyages and oiling the pernicious slave trade. Although coffee originated in the Arab world, it stoked revolutionary thought in Europe during the Age of Reason, when coffeehouses became centers of intellectual exchange. And hundreds of years after the Chinese began drinking tea, it became especially popular in Britain, with far-reaching effects on British foreign policy. Finally, though carbonated drinks were invented in 18th-century Europe they became a 20th-century phenomenon, and Coca-Cola in particular is the leading symbol of globalization.

For Tom Standage, each drink is a kind of technology, a catalyst for advancing culture by which he demonstrates the intricate interplay of different civilizations. You may never look at your favorite drink the same way again.

Reveille in Washington focuses on the everyday politics and preoccupations of Washington during the Civil War. From the stench of corpse-littered streets to the plunging lace on Mary Lincoln’s evening gowns, Margaret Leech illuminates the city and its familiar figures—among them Abraham Lincoln, Jefferson Davis, Robert E. Lee, William Seward, and Mary Surratt—in intimate and fascinating detail.

Leech’s book remains widely recognized as both an impressive feat of scholarship and an uncommonly engrossing work of history.