This would not have been a book that I would have bought if it were not a kindle deal. There are at least three drinks listed that I have never even drank once (beer, wine, or hard liquor). However, I am glad that I ended up buying it and I learned a great deal about these six beverages and their place in world history. Tom Standage writes a fun and exciting book that really captivates the attention. One of the reviews called it "history light" and that is a perfect way to describe it. There is no agenda other than to illustrate the fact that there is no singular story of history but only many different histories that should be explored; at least that is what author stated in the beginning. Here are some of the reasons that I enjoyed this book.One of things I like so much about this book is the writing style of the author. For one thing, this book is fast. It is over 300 hundred pages but it seems to fly by very quickly. A book about beverages has a great potential for being boring if not handled correctly. He does not belabor moot points or milk any concepts but keeps moving from one scene to another as it were. He gets down to the major events and developments without diverging onto bunny trails. Another thing is that he is not just talking about beverages but he has a point that he comes to in each section. That point is something relevant and clear so there is no need for guessing at what he is trying to say.He begins with the most important of human beverages; water. From there he explores the roots of beer and its importance in early agricultural societies. He demonstrates that beer had a cohesive quality that brought people together. It was more than a drink, it forged social bonds and was a major staple of early human life. He moves on to show how wine came to supplant beer in a certain respect. It became a drink that ultimately ended up representing sophistication and culture. I love how he demonstrated that wine was a drink often offered to deity. Like beer before it wine was something thought to possess a mystical quality. To this day we toast one another with both beer and wine as if to invoke the magical properties that our ancestors thought them to have.He moves onto hard liquors demonstrating that it played a role in the American Revolution. The colonies love for rum and the brothels that the Sons of Liberty met in served to solidify its unique role in early American history. The next beverage was coffee and I found that one to be the most interesting. It is amazing to think of the role that coffee played in many of the intellectual developments of the enlightenment era. Coffeehouses were the places that great minds met to discuss and debate various issues. It was a coffeehouse discussion that birthed Newton's Principe and it was on the steps of a coffeehouse that the French Revolution kicked off. Tea was also a fascinating drink to read about and it has played no small role in history. If you don't believe it then you might ought to think about what happened in the harbor at Boston during the winter of 1773. Lastly, there was coke. It's development has been a part of the ongoing process of globalization.Although, I am not expert on beverage history, I was not able to locate anything about the drinks that I thought was amiss. There was one statement the author made that was a little suspect. He claimed that neolithic people thought beer was magical because of its ability to alter consciousness. While that is likely I am not sure that it can be demonstrated conclusively or stated as a "matter of fact." Neolithic people left us no reason to assert that. I think later in history that can be seen but perhaps it is leap to ascribe it to the Neolithic period. In another location he mentioned 0 C.E. That that was a major mistake as everyone knows there is no year 0! I am surprised that a historian would make that mistake and more surprised that a publisher did not catch it. He claims that Theodosius divided the Empire into east and west. Actually Diocletian had divided the Empire into four parts long before Theodosius I. These are not major except for the 0 C.E. which is kind of bad.Ultimately, while I would not have bought this book had it not been on sale I am glad that I did. It was a really fun book to read. I found it exciting and original. It is not everyday that you can pick up a book about beverages and thoroughly enjoy it. As a historian and teacher myself I plan on using some of this material in my classroom. The chapter on Coca Cola is a great way to talk about globalization and even cultural diffusion! I love the way he reined it all in talking about how people are beginning to realize how important water really is. After thousands of years we have come full circle. It was a lot of fun and it is certainly worth your time and money.