An offbeat history of the world traces the story of humankind from the Stone Age to the twenty-first century from the perspective of six different drinks--beer, wine, spirits, coffee, tea, and cola--describing their pervasive influence during pivotal eras of world history, from humankind's adoption [...]

A new paperback edition of the first book by the bestselling author of "A History of the World in 6 Glasses"--the fascinating story of the telegraph, the world's first "Internet," which revolutionized the nineteenth century even more than the Internet has the twentieth and twenty first.
"The Vic[...]

Throughout history, food has acted as a catalyst of social change, political organization, geopolitical competition, industrial development, military conflict, and economic expansion. An Edible History of Humanity is a pithy, entertaining account of how a series of changes--caused, enabled, or influ[...]

"The Victorian Internet "tells the colorful story of the telegraph's creation and remarkable impact, and of the visionaries, oddballs, and eccentrics who pioneered it, from the eighteenth-century French scientist Jean-Antoine Nollet to Samuel F. B. Morse and Thomas Edison. The electric telegraph nul[...]

Throughout history, food has done more than simply provide sustenance. It has acted as a tool of social transformation, political organization, industrial development, military conflict and economic expansion. This book gives an account of ways in which food has, indirectly, helped to shape and tran[...]