You are currently browsing the category archive for the ‘Books’ category.
The intellectual, commercial and scientific revolutions of the Enlightenment were fueled by the buzz of coffee and cafes around Western Europe. The machines of the industrial revolution in Britain were oiled with tea. Beer helped build the Egyptian pyramids. Or so says Tom Standage in his book A History of the World in Six Glasses.
This short, and easy to read book places importance on beer, wine, spirits, coffee, tea and Coca-Cola in the major Western historical developments. As someone used to reading all too often drab social, military, economic and political histories, I was pleased to have read such an engaging book.
I just read The No-nonsense guide to Fair Trade by David Ransom and it’s a fantastic introductory text to the topic. Published by the New Internationalist, it’s one book in a series on contemporary political, economic and social issues, ranging from AIDS to global conflicts.
